Star Crossed
by kokkilamb01
Summary: Haruno Sakura was in deep trouble. She was stuck in a web of lies and deception. How the hell was she supposed to get out of this? Now with a certain blonde haired Akatsuki chasing after her, things have gotten way more complicated than she could handle.
1. First Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sadly. XD

Title: Star-Crossed

Summary: Haruno Sakura was in deep trouble. She was stuck in a web of lies and deception. How the hell was she supposed to get out of this? Now with a certain blonde haired Akatsuki chasing after her, things have gotten way more complicated than she could handle.

Status: A work in progress!

Pairing: Deidara x Sakura, future triangles (hehe XD)

Rating: Soon to be M 8D but for now T, I suppose

Just so you know this is like a type of flashback to before Deidara joined Akatsuki and before Team 7 got separated

**Chapter 1: First Meeting**

Haruno Sakura was starting to panic as she continued to leap from branch to branch scanning the surrounding forest for her teammates. She could feel tears brimming in her eyes. How could she have been so dumb so..so.. _Naruto_. It was a simple C-rank mission to the Hidden Stone Village to send a scroll. Team 7 was on their way there when suddenly during the dead of night a heavy torrential rain shook them from their sleep. Of course, all four of them were already soaked to the bone when they attempted to search for shelter. But how could she have been separated from them? Sure it was really difficult to see since the heavy rain was obstructing her view but that was no excuse. Sasuke-kun would be so disappointed with her since one of the few basic rules of shinobi was to stick together no matter what, especially in an unknown territory. Wandering around mindlessly was utterly stupid.

Her long pink hair was plastered to her neck and face as she continued leaping from branch to branch. Her chakra reserves were starting to dwindle, and she knew she was at risk of getting a very serious cold if she did no try to get out of the rain. Her speed started to slow as she started to stumble and slip on the branches. She was so concentrated on trying to keep her pink locks from getting in her view her right foot slipped. She tried in vain to regain control and grab the branch with her chakra-induced hands.

She was falling.

At the last minute, she managed to twist her body and land on her hands and feet. Luckily, she had enough chakra to cushion her fall. But she knew she could not go any further. She rest her back on a huge trunk panting heavily. She covered her body with her arms trying to warm herself as much as possible. How was a 12-year-old Genin supposed to survive on her own? The tears she was trying so hard to hold back started to fall freely. She lifted her head to look at the surroundings one last time. Would her team find her? Would Sasuke-kun miss her? How she wished Sasuke-kun would appear and save her. Of course, no matter how hard she tried to steal his attention, the cold Uchiha would only look away and say, "You are so annoying." She had been hurt, but she did not give up and still worshipped the ground he walked on. Imagine her joy when she was teamed up with him. Never mind the loud blonde who was also in her team.

Surprisingly, she was starting to miss the rambunctious blonde. His unruly blonde hair and wide grin. Naruto would always get in her nerves and on every chance he got he would get into a competitive battle with Sasuke-kun.

She sniffed. It was impossible to try to stay awake when her body was screaming at her to get some rest. Her eyes were slowly staring to close when she heard noises from a bush nearby. A shadow was walking towards her. The heavy rain and her drowsiness were stopping her from recognizing who was coming. But the little voice in her head was hoping it would be Sasuke-kun saving her life.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" She managed before the darkness clouded her vision. The last thing she remembered was blonde hair and blue eyes.

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He was planning on escaping Iwa sooner. But he knew if he left, the Tsuchikage would send his shinobi after him and he would have no choice but to turn back to that damned village. That village was just stopping his passion: art. He loved how his creations would blow up. Showing off the beauty of things that could disappear in a blink of an eye. How his clay would fly off in many different directions – maybe with blood and a couple of limbs flying too – showing off its beauty. But that damned village _always _looked down on his art. Calling him a monster and a kid that would bring nothing but trouble. It was not his fault he was born with a strange bloodline limit not that he minded it anyway. He just refrained from shaking hands with anyone.

Unconsciously, the mouths in his hand licked their lips. He increased his speed. Who knew where he was heading? All he knew was that he was out of that village and would be able to perfect his art. The heavy rain would be able to erase his tracks and scent but he still masked his chakra just in case. By the time the rain stopped, he would be miles away from Iwa. Being a missing-nin at the age of 14 did not bother him at all. Even way before he was contemplating on leaving the village, he already felt left out. Suspicious glares from villagers and the ANBU that would always keep an eye on him. He did not like being caged and ostracized. The heavy rain gave him a chance to escape and he took it.

Travelling by a clay bird would be risky, as he would be seen from afar. His clay bird would also turn to mush due to the rain so he chose to travel by foot. He scanned the surrounding forest, to make sure he was not being followed. He would consider the surrounding clear and safe when a he sensed a flicker of something from afar. His body immediately tensed taking a battle stance. He tried to sense for anymore chakra signatures but found only one. And it was dwindling fast. He knew it did not pose a threat and continued his journey. But he could feel the chakra dwindling and becoming faint. He scowled and blamed his conscience for being merciful and made his way to the faint chakra signature.

He expected to see a bleeding shinobi left to die after a serious battle, but instead he found a girl with ridiculous pink hair! He cautiously walked closer to her. Her pink locks were plastered to her face and neck. Her face was pale and she was shivering wildly. Now that he found her here. What was he supposed to do? Leave her? End her misery? The last thought made him smirk. How amazing would it be blow her up? But he knew the explosion would only cause unnecessary attention. And hence, lead to his recapture. Again.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?"

He looked down at the girl. Who the hell was this Sasuke? He sighed inwardly and scooped her up bridal style. Her body was cold and lifeless from being drenched in rain and using up her chakra reserves. How the hell did she end up here? As he started to find nearby shelter, he noticed something shiny. He looked down to find a hitae-ate tied to her head.

"Konoha nin," he muttered under his breath as he entered a cave he found. The cave was suspicious looking and was not warm enough. He wanted to delve deeper into the cave but did not want to risk finding something he disliked like a 30 feet long poisonous snake or an oversized hungry bear. So he placed her near the entrance of the cave but not close enough for the rain to hit her.

"Now what?" He asked himself. He scratched his head and groaned when his fingers got tangled in his wet blonde mess. He undid his ponytail and retied it after repeated attempts. He took out his black cloak from his pack and covered the pink haired girl's body in a feeble attempt to keep her warm. He cursed himself for always skipping survival classes. With the help of a basic fire jutsu, he managed to create a fire that would last long enough to keep them both warm throughout the night without wood.

He rests his back on the cave walls right next to the unconscious girl. And planned that he would wake up and head out before the girl woke up. He thought about the places he would go and the things he would be able to blow up freely before darkness took him and he fell into a deep sleep.

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"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto hollered. Kakashi, Sasuke and him were running rapidly, hoping to find a flash of pink and red somewhere nearby. They were forced to find better shelter when the rain started to get too heavy. Team 7 had been travelling and found a nearby village in Hidden Grass when they noticed that one of their members were missing. Naruto had adamantly wanted to immediately seek out the pink kunoichi but was stopped by the Copy nin.

"Its too dangerous Naruto. We wont be able to find anything in this rain," he explained calmly.

"But Kakashi-sensei, You could use your Sharingan! We need to find her!" he shouted.

Kakashi sighed and told Naruto with a stern voice, "Even with the Sharingan it would be too difficult to spot her in this rain. And she could be miles away. It would be too dangerous to seek her out now. Naruto, I trust my student and I know she would have found shelter and we'll find her in the morning when the rain stops."

Now it was morning, and there was no trace of Sakura anywhere. Even with the help of Pakkun it was difficult, as the rain had washed away her scent. Naruto was becoming more worried for the pink haired kunoichi. Was she okay? Did she find shelter? He knew that Sakura had aced most of the classes' subjects and knew that she would know what to do. She always had been the smart one.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" he hollered again this time hoping for a response. But there was none.

Suddenly, Kakashi stopped in his tracks. Naruto and Sasuke followed suite stopping at a nearby branch behind him. At the corner of his eye he could see Sasuke in a battle stance, a hand hovering over his kunai holster. His dark hair in a mess and onyx eyes scanning their surroundings for signs of approaching enemy nin. Suddenly a puff of white smoke appeared in front of Kakashi and a small brown dog appeared donning a blue vest and a Konoha hitai-ate. Naruto and Sasuke visibly relaxed.

"I found her," Pakkun stated.

"Where?" Naruto asked anxious to find the kunoichi.

"Calm down dobe," Sasuke said his voice cold glaring at the blonde with onyx eyes.

"How am I supposed to calm down? Sakura-chan could be in trouble!"

"She's northwest from here. She's not travelling at a fast pace; we could catch up to her. But, she is with someone else. I can't recognize the scent. She is in no danger though," Pakkun added ignoring the growing tension between the two youngsters behind his Master.

Kakashi nodded as the brown dog started off to lead them to the missing kunoichi. The three them headed towards the northwestern direction with their senses at high alert and their eyes scanning the area for signs of long pink hair.

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Sakura had woken up her neck sore from leaning against..against _what_? Her body tensed as her eyes fluttered open to take in her surroundings. She was in a cave. And she was _alive_! She felt another presence to her right and turned her head. She was face to face with a guy with long blonde hair that covered his left eye and tied up in a high ponytail.

She screamed on instinct and his eyes flew open revealing a pair of bright blue eyes. Before he could even register what had happened Sakura's fist connected with his jaw and his head flew back from the impact.

"What the fuck was that for?" he screamed rubbing his jaw with the back of his hand. Sakura visibly stilled, there were mouths on his hands. _Mouths_! Her inquisitive side would love to investigate and prod further on them but the adrenaline was already coursing through her veins and her eyes were wide. She noticed he was wearing a hitai-ate with the Earth Country insignia but what caught her attention was not the insignia but was the fact that it had been slashed.

She could feel the blood drain from her face as she registered the fact that she was in a cave with a missing-nin from the Earth Country.

"Is that how you thank someone who just saved your life? Yeah," he asked, his visible eye narrowed at her.

"What? Where am I?"

"In a cave. I thought you would figure that out by now, yeah. I found you and brought you here."

"You're not going to kill me?"

"I would have when you were unconscious but I chose not to. But if you want me to, I won't mind, yeah." His visible eye was looking at her with a sinister glint. He smirked.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the male, feeling threatened. "Well, I'm not just going to sit back and let you." She added with a far more confident voice than she thought she could muster.

The blonde laughed and picked up his cloak that was abandoned on the floor. " Well, it would be a shame to blow you up. So, I'll let you live," he said nonchalantly as he started to pack his belongings and headed out of the cave.

"You're just going to leave me?" She asked incredulous. Her eyes widened. _Wait did he just say blow me up?_

He did not reply and continued to walk out of the cave as if he already forgotten about her presence. Sakura started to panic. She was left alone in the forest once, she was not about to let that happen twice. She turned around and grabbed the sleeve of his baggy dark-coloured shirt. Of course, she did not take into consideration that he was a missing-nin and would not hesitate to cut her arm off or _blow her up_.

She heard him sigh loudly after what seemed like an eternity.

"I'll send you to the nearest village, yeah. Just let go of my arm," he said exasperated and wriggling his sleeve free from her strong grasps.

Sakura smiled widely at him. She caught him raise his eyebrows in surprise and was he _blushing_? She giggled quietly not wanting to cause him to change his mind. They then started to walk away from the cave. Sakura was walking behind him and from her view she could see the he was a head taller than her. She could probably estimate that he was around her age give or take a couple of years.

"The nearest village isn't far from here but were not going to make it at this pace, yeah. Can you keep up?" he said, looking over his shoulder.

Sakura jumped at the sound of his voice and nodded meekly before he leaped up onto a branch. She followed him from branch to branch.

"Why do you keep saying that?" She asked her curious side had taken over her and she could not stand any minute longer in the heavy silence.

"Say what, yeah?" He answered with a surprisingly innocent look on his face.

"_That._ You keep saying 'yeah' on every sentence." Rolling her eyes.

"It's a habit." He said signalling the end of the conversation. But Sakura was not going to let it end like that.

"Why do you have mouths on your hands? Why are you running from the village? Why did you save me?" She added the last one in a whisper looking down.

"Why do you keep talking!" he said exasperated throwing his hands in the air and stopped on a branch.

"It's a bloodline limit, I was born with it. I hated my village, so I left. Anything else? Yeah." He said in one breath.

"What's your name?" She said looking at him.

"Err… Deidara," He answered. His visible eye showed a hint of surprise.

"I'm Sakura," She said smiling widely at him. His face flushed. He opened his mouth to say something when he stopped and she could see his body start to tense.

"Someone's coming," He said in a whisper a hand hovering over a small pouch. Sakura's eyes narrowed and tried to sense the presence. Due to her sensitivity to chakra she could easily recognize the chakra signature.

"My team mates! They've come searching for me!" She said excitedly.

He grunted in response and turned around to escape any type of confrontation with Konoha nin. Before he could get any farther, she quickly grabbed his right arm and placed a chaste kiss on his right cheek that was not covered from his blonde hair.

He looked absolutely priceless with a hand instinctively over his right cheek.

"Thank you, Deidara."

"See you soon, Sakura." He said before disappearing into the dense forest with a smile on his face.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" she heard Naruto's voice. She took one last look at where Deidara disappeared and started her way towards her team mates. Surely Sasuke-kun had been worried about her.

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Review pleaseeee..

I'm open to any type of advice!

This was my first try. More chapters are on the wayyy~~!


	2. Second Meeting

My friends, I proudly present chapter 2! :D

Please enjoy~~

Star Crossed

Chapter 2: Second Meeting

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_"Doctor! Her heart rate is speeding up!"_

_ "Brain activity is beyond normal!"_

_ "Shit. It's not time for her to wake up yet! Double the dose of the sedatives!"_

_ "Haruno-san please remain calm. Don't move. Everything is going to be alright."_

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"Are you just going to stand there?" Shikamaru said, with one of his hands in his pocket and the other around Ino's waist.

"Hn," the other nin just grunted in response. His friend sighed and entered the room with Ino in tow. They had been together after Asuma died. Leaning on each other for support and maybe finding in each other the comfort they had yearned for. Nothing could separate them, even if he tried to use a crowbar to yank them apart. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips as he remembered the day they wed. Ino had looked absolutely stunning in a white gown and Shikamaru had looked as if he had won the lottery. The boy had finally proposed to her after ten years of being in a relationship. Sadly, her best friend could not attend her wedding. His smile disappeared from his face as he remembered the reason why he stood in front of the hospital room 405.

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_"Captain! We're surrounded," his team mate said in the ANBU code. To others it would be pure gibberish but to the ANBU members it was like a second language. Using his bloodline limit, he scanned the surrounding area to find four enemy nin surrounding the group. And they were definitely strong._

_They had been sent to the Fire Country border to investigate the mysterious deaths of certain villagers and shinobi that had passed the area. He was sent with Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba and _her_. All of them had been able to enter ANBU due to their strengths and exceptional abilities in assassination and stealth. They were making their way to the border when they had been caught in a genjutsu that had them travelling in circles and wasting their chakra. It was Shikamaru that figured it out and removed the genjutsu only to find that they had been surrounded by enemy nin. _

"_Byakugan!" he said under his breath and tried to pinpoint the enemy's position. An escape route was almost impossible. But before he could issue a command, a clay sparrow flew in from his left side. _Shit.

"_MOVE!" he screamed. Before the clay sparrow exploded, the group had managed to separate and escape from the deadly blow. He cursed himself for letting the enemy separate the group only making it easier for them to kill each of his team mates one by one. He knew this was what the Godaime had warned about. He knew that the Akatsuki were after _her_. But she did not know why. She had tried to keep _her_ busy in the hospital and away from harm but she knew it was only a matter of time before the stubborn kunoichi would find _her_ way out of the hospital and on a mission. The Godaime had thought the mission was simple enough. Who would have thought it was a trap?_

_They had thought the Akatsuki were after the nine-tails but the loud blonde had left Konoha years ago with one of the legendary sannin after the Uchiha had turned his back on his village and his friends. That was ten years ago. And there was still no sign of the Uchiha or the blonde. _

_He could sense his team mates engage in battle as the sounds of metal against metal echoed in the empty forest. It was five against four, but it did not mean that they could survive. They needed to escape or it would be too late._

_He could see Hinata on his left throwing her weapons and dodging the huge man's attacks. He was wielding a huge sword and immediately he could recognize the Akatsuki member. He seemed to have lost the capability to breathe properly as he was wheezing and dangerously swinging his huge sword to try and get close enough to Hinata. _

_Further in front of him he could see both Shikamaru and Kiba fighting against two enemy nin. One whom he recognized immediately was the mass murderer of his whole clan. He could see the crimson orbs spinning dangerously in the darkness. The other was one slightly shorter man with and orange mask that only revealed only one eye._

_This had meant that the explosives expert was somewhere nearby._

_He immediately landed on a nearby branch in a battle stance ready to attack. He was sure the explosives expert was nearby. He felt another presence beside him and recognize _her_ chakra signature._

"_Sakura. You have to go. Escape now," He told her with a stern, emotionless voice._

"_What? There's absolutely no way I'm going to leave my team mates to die!" She replied adamantly. He only turned his head to look at her. She was wearing a mask with a hawk pattern. Her hair was held back with the help of a pair of what seemed like chopsticks with the shorter strands of pink falling freely around her mask. _

"_Go!" He said with finality. She knew it was not wise to go against the Captain of her team and only nodded and disappeared after hesitating for a few seconds. _

"_Hmmphh! You just spoiled the whole plan, yeah"_

_He turned around to find one of the Akatsuki members. It was thought that he was dead after the extraction of the Shukaku, exploding himself. Only after the organization had decided to take Sakura did they find out that he was alive. Unfortunately. _

_He was crouching comfortably on a clay bird. With the Akatsuki member being a long-range expert it was impossible for him to get close enough for him to execute his attacks. Getting to close would mean he would be an easy target to get hit my one of his explosives and he knew the crazed blonde would not think twice to explode himself to kill him. _

_He threw a couple of kunai at his enemy. In the split second where the kunai flew and was deflected by the enemy he placed his hands together to perform seals rapidly. In a puff of smoke, multiple copies of him appeared and wielding their ninjato, a compulsory weapon carried by all ANBU. _

_The copies lunged at the enemy nin. _

_The real one had masked his chakra and sneaked his away around the enemy nin hoping to get close enough to get a clear, accurate shot at his heart that would immediately kill him. But suddenly a kunai whizzed past. It was uncomfortably near his neck and he had dodged at the last second. _

"_That won't work on me, yeah," the blonde said with one of the ninjato swords in his hands. The clones had all disappeared. The explosives expert was far more dangerous than he thought to have been able to disperse his shadow clones. Naruto had not been the only one to learn that technique. Like many of his family techniques, he learned them only through observation. Learning the Shadow Clone technique was too easy. He noticed the enemy was no longer on a clay bird. _

_With a strong kick using his chakra induced feet, the blonde leapt from the tree the ninjato aiming for his heart. In the speed of light, he removed his ninjato out of its sheath and blocked the attack. He smirked under his mask and immediately aimed his fist at the enemy's heart. But the enemy only dispersed in a puff of smoke._

A clone? Shit. Where's the real one?

_He quickly turned around to find his vision blurred with pink and red._

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He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. The idiot had come back wanting to help her friends. In her attempt to stop the blade from piercing him, she stupidly placed her body as a shield. He had sworn he would protect her. How could he fail?

The Akatsuki members had fled quickly after that as two of their members had been badly hurt and needed medical attention immediately. He could remember the man with the orange mask slung over the Uchiha's shoulder and the blue one leaning heavily on his giant sword, as he seemed to have badly damaged his leg. The crazed blonde had looked pale and was stumbling on his feet when he released his hold on the ninjato. He had grabbed the pink haired kunoichi before she could fall to her death. The way he had held her was gentle, like a lover's. He held her for a split second before depositing her safely on a tree branch. Her ANBU mask had fallen of her face and she was covered in sweat and blood.

The strange actions of the Akatsuki member raised suspicions in him but he placed that aside. Sakura's injury was serious and could be fatal. Luckily, Hinata had enough chakra to stop the bleeding and repair any fatal damages. But she could not fully heal her. They had quickly returned to Konoha with the pink haired kunoichi's body in his arms.

She had been hospitalised ever since.

His team mates were hurt but their injuries were not fatal. But Sakura's injury had severed arteries and penetrated through her abdomen. If her wound was not fatal enough, she could have died from severe blood loss. The medics of Konoha and even the Godaime herself had been part of the surgery. That was six months ago, the kunoichi was still unconscious. The Godaime confirmed that she was in a coma, her body's attempt to fully heal itself. No one had expected it would take this long. Her friends had been worried. Some visited on a daily basis, others weekly. Even their allies from Suna had come to Konoha to visit her. He knew the oldest blonde had dragged her male siblings to the hospital after they had finished their diplomatic mission in Konoha. _She _was the one that saved her brother's life and help kill Sasori.

The elders had once decided to pull the plug and give up on her after third month. But the Godaime had objected and raged, unable to control her anger and hurt. She had refused to give up on her apprentice.

"Yo, Neji,"

Neji shifted his attention from the floor to the man standing in front of him. How could he not sense the Copy nin's presence? He tilted his head in a respectful bow. The Copy nin's visible right eye creased in what seemed like a smile. He was wearing his usual mask covering the lower part of his face. His hitai-ate covered his left eye. Even her sensei had come to the hospital to visit her weekly when he was not assigned to any missions. Even though her sensei hated the hospital he would still come to visit her.

"You know, they think she's dead. They won't come looking for her again. She's not in any immediate danger," the silver haired shinobi said before entering the room.

Neji knew. And he had entered the room once or twice to see her. But he chose to visit when everyone had left and he was the only one left. Sometimes he opted to stand outside and listen to all the stories her friends and team mates would share with her.

When everyone had left, he slowly opened the doors of the hospital room and stepped inside. The sight before him never failed to terrify him, and the Hyuga was not easily terrified. Before him was a friend he once knew. Her pink hair was in disarray over her pillows. It grew over the past six months. Her cheeks were sullen, her skin pale. She had lost her usual rosy glow. He had missed her warm smile that seemed to always light the room up. It scared him to think that he would not see that side of her again.

Needles stuck out of her body everywhere. They were connected to fancy machinery that would help her live. It was like she was just an empty shell of the person he once knew. He walked closer to the bed. He wished he would open her eyes once again.

"Sakura…" he whispered as he extended his arm to gently push aside a lock of hair off her face. Suddenly, the monotonous beeping of the machine monitoring her heart started to increase in its pace. He saw her fingers start to twitch.

"Sakura?" he said much louder now. Was she going to wake up? He quickly dashed out of the room in search for a doctor. He did not notice a small clay bird watching them from outside the window.

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PLEASE review. And maybe post a couple of suggestions if you guys want.

Open to any advice of course!

Chapter 3 will be up soon XD


	3. The Key

**Hey guysss… I just want to say how truly grateful I am to have people read my work.**

**T^T I am honestly crying tears of joy.**

**I will keep on writing, yeah?**

**Without further ado I proudly present to you the next chapter~!**

Star Crossed

**Chapter 3: The Key**

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_"Foolish human. Your goal is impossible to achieve," the demon laughed darkly as his menacing chakra enveloped his host like a cocoon._

_"You wish to control the world by casting a powerful genjutsu. Have you ever thought that maybe, the Jubi would kill you instead? I am sure you are aware of how the tailed beasts were created. We are just fragments of the great Jubi. Without the 'key' you can never unlock it's full potential, even if you attempted to combine all nine of the tailed beasts," the demon added._

_"Key? What key?" he asked. His visible right eye narrowed as he eyed the demon suspiciously._

_"Your plan will not work without the key. It is said that the Sage of the Six Paths had locked away the remains of the Jubi after it was separated into nine tailed beasts. Like the tailed beasts, the key was released to the world. But, it's identity remains unknown. At least to you humans," the Yonbi answered._

_"You will tell me what I need to know," he ordered. His visible eye glowing red._

_"The key has the ability to heal and resurrect the dead. This is why it holds the power to recreate the Jubi. It only resurfaced after the Kyubi was resealed into another host. You will never find it. The Sage of the Six Paths would have made sure of it."_

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"Deidara-senpai! Can't we take a break? We've been walking for days. It's not like this job is so important. We only need to collect the money for killing two missing-nins. There's no need to rush!" Tobi whined. His orange mask concealed his face but Deidara could almost imagine his expression with his childish pout. Tobi had never revealed his face. But dealing with his goofy personality was enough for him.

"Senpai! How about we make camp here and you can make clay statues of Tobi," he added, his voice dripping with excitement. Immediately, he dropped onto the ground with a heavy thud. He lay on his stomach and rested his chin on his hands that formed a V shape. His legs were in the air.

"How's this pose Senpai?" he asked innocently.

Deidara felt his eyes twitch. _How the hell did this guy ever managed to enter Akatsuki?_

"I'm not going to waste my clay on you, yeah!" He answered angrily. His arms crossed across his chest as he sat down opposite him. He might as well take a break. They had been walking for the past two days to find the nearest Bounty Office to collect their reward for removing two missing-nins from the Bingo Book. Collecting funds were one of the few tasks Akatsuki members had to complete besides extracting tailed beasts.

"But Deidara-senpai, aren't you always wasting your clay blowing things up? Isn't it better to make use of the clay to make statues of Tobi?" He asked still using his innocent tone.

That was the last straw.

Deidara grabbed Tobi by the collar of his Akatsuki cloak and started shaking him vigorously. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY ART?" He screamed at the top of his lungs. This time for sure he was going to blow the damned guy up.

He was about to stuff his hands into his clay pouch when he felt something heavy on his shoulder. One of his clay birds had landed. He usually sent some of his clay birds to scout the area and keep an eye on the enemy, though he preferred them to blow up. He dropped Tobi and gently removed the clay bird from his shoulder. Images instantly filled his mind when in contact. He could feel the blood drain from his face and his body growing tense. What was he supposed to feel? Relief? His hand swallowed the clay bird.

"Get up, yeah. We've got to contact Leader," he said distractedly to his comrade.

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Neji had just returned from one of his missions. He was tired, hungry and grumpy. But he had something to do first. Instead of heading towards the Hyuga Residence he started to walk his way towards the Konoha Hospital.

He nodded at the lady at the counter and walked right in. He had been in the hospital multiple times; he had memorized the way to Sakura's room by heart. As he neared her room, he felt a familiar presence. He masked his chakra.

"Hatake, I still don't think it's safe enough for her to go to any missions. The Akatsuki wants her for unknown reasons," a voice said. He could recognize the Godaime's voice anywhere.

"But one of them stabbed her. Surely, they think she is already dead," the other voice said.

"That may be true since they haven't been any advances for the past six months. She wasn't supposed to survive that blow, you know," she finished her sentence softly.

"She's stronger than you think Hokage-sama. But enough talk. I think we should welcome our eaves dropper into the room."

The hospital doors opened and both the Godaime and the Copy nin exited the room. Neji bowed in respect. The Godaime had her blonde hair tied up in her customary ponytails. Her light brown eyes studied Neji before she left with the Copy nin in tow.

Neji entered the room. Sakura was no longer connected to the machinery. She was capable enough to breathe on her own. He let out a small sigh of relief. He did not like the machines and needles. He found the rise and fall of her chest comforting, as he knew she was alive and breathing. Over the years she had grown stronger thanks to the Godaime and Kakashi. He knew she had help from other as well. Lee had helped her with her taijutsu while he had helped her with her ninjutsu. Every time they spared, there would always end up destroying the training grounds. Leaving huge holes and blood everywhere. He could almost remember how he had first decided to help her train a few years back.

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_Neji walked towards the Hyuga Residence. He had done his part in attending the party with Gai, Tenten and Lee. It did not mean he could not leave early. He had made full use of his shinobi skills to sneak his way to the exit and leave quietly. Watching his friends get drunk was not a welcoming idea. Knowing the fact that his former sensei and Lee would end up challenging each other and doing absurd things like running around Konoha a thousand times with their hands or doing a thousand push-up with heavy weights on their backs. He could not understand why people would do such a thing. But he knew better than to step in. The challenges were just a way for them to bond. He was lucky he did not have to wear the horrible green suit. He shuddered when he imagined himself in the green suit. Oh, great. It was going to take hours and hours of hardcore training to remove the image from his head._

_He had almost reached his backdoor entrance when he heard loud rustling behind him. _A trespasser_? He thought. He grabbed a kunai from his kunai holster and threw it into the shadows. He did not hear a thunk, so that meant that it had not hit his target._

_"Show yourself!" He ordered already in a battle stance. He did not like to waste his time removing trespassers. He was going to make sure the trespasser is dealt with seriously for entering the Hyuga Residence without proper reason. The trespasser staggered out of the shadows with the kunai in his-her-hand._

_"Haruno-san? What are you doing here? Don't you know this is private property?" He asked. He could easily recognize her bright pink hair that was cut short. She was dressed in a black dress with a slit that rode high up her thigh revealing silky pale skin. She looked up her emerald eyes unfocused and confused. She narrowed her eyes as if trying to get a better view of him._

_"Neji-san! What are you doing here?" She slurred. She twirled the kunai on her index finger. She was drunk. Her cheeks were flushed as pink as her hair and her movements were sluggish. But it still amazed him how she had managed to catch the kunai in her drunken state._

_"I was just on my way home. Don't worry about me," she slurred some more. She took one step forward before falling face down on the ground. Neji sighed; _can this night get any better?_ He thought bitterly._

_He had left her in one of the spare rooms before heading towards his room to rest._

_The next day he woke up to the dull sound of metal against wood. He scratched his head and leaned against the doorframe of the exit door leading to his personal training grounds. Before him was the pink haired kunoichi still wearing her black dress and throwing shuriken at the wooden targets. She aimed the shuriken easily. What amazed him was the fact that she had no hangover. Hell, she was training! She must have noticed his presence and turned to look at him. Emerald connected with grey. Her green orbs travelled from his face to his bare upper body. He had left the room without a shirt. She stared appreciatively before looking away blushing furiously at the thought that she was ogling openly. He raised one of his eyebrows, amused at the sight._

_"What are doing?" he asked casually ignoring what had just happened a few seconds ago._

_"Oh! I was trying to find the exit. I stumbled here instead. So I decided to train for a while before leaving. Sorry I woke you up," She said avoiding his gaze._

_"You were doing it wrong," he said matter-of-factly._

_"What?"_

_"The way your standing is wrong. Your weight is not distributed evenly. The way your throwing is also wrong. You won't be able to hit the target properly if you don't use your whole arm strength. By just using your wrist is not effective enough. And your not eve-" he could not finish his sentence as the ground started to shake and split into two from where he was standing. He fell into the hole, caught off guard. Before he could try to get out, the two halves joined together again, trapping him. Only his head was free, the rest of his body was trapped underground._

_He looked up shocked. The kunoichi was scowling._

_"Why don't you teach me your mighty tricks oh, great Hyuga," she said mockingly her hands on her hips. She started to mumble incoherent curses under her breath. She had a very colourful vocabulary. She wiped her hands of the dirt and swiftly left the training grounds. It took him a while to register what had happened and a longer while to get himself out of the hole. He cleaned himself and got dressed quickly before leaving the Hyuga Residence in a hurry. He had a score to settle._

_He barged right into the kunoichi's office and found her examining a half-naked Genma._

_"What? Neji-san, do you mind?" She said, her hands left Genma's bare chest to rest at her hips._

_"It's okay. You already removed most of the poison from my body. I'll just sleep the rest off," Genma said while putting on his shirt. He smiled briefly at Neji before he left the room closing the door behind him._

_"I see you got yourself out. I was going to see you after my shift to help you out," Sakura said casually while walking towards her desk._

_"Hn."_

_"Look. Do you need something?"_

_"I was here to inform you that I would take you up on your offer."_

_"Offer? What offer? I didn't make an offer."_

_"Yes you did, Haruno-san."_

_"Call me Sakura."_

_"Sakura… You specifically asked me to teach you a couple of my mighty tricks."_

_"What? You want to help with my training?"_

_He shrugged. "Meet me at my training grounds tomorrow at dawn," He said coolly before leaving the office with the kunoichi's mouth agape and her eyes wide with disbelief._

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Lee had joined soon after that. The three of them had grown closer. And he had learned to care for her. Both of them had joined ANBU and their team was one of the best few, with him leading.

The attacks from Akatsuki had only started a year ago. The Akatsuki were stubborn and wanted her at all costs. It was strange. But Sakura was well known for her exceptional healing abilities second to only the legendary sannin herself. He figured that they needed her for that. Konoha could not lose someone as important as Sakura. She was one of the best few medic nins. And he would swim in his own blood just to keep her away from harm. He knew she could take care of herself and that she did kill one of the members of Akatsuki. He was still not going to take any chances. If the Akatsuki wanted her, they would have to go through him first.

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His projection flickered. He stood at the forefinger on the right hand. He had managed to contact Leader. Tobi stood opposite him at the thumb on the left hand. He waved his arms in the air trying to catch his attention. He scowled. They were waiting for Leader and Konan to appear. Soon an image started to form at both his sides. Konan appeared in his right while Leader appeared on the other. Their projections were see-through and only their eyes could be seen. He could see Leader's ringed gaze and Konan's grey eyes, both showing signs of annoyance. He smirked. Looks like we were interrupting something.

"What is it Deidara? I don't have the patience to deal with your whining today. I have other… important matters at hand," he said his voice filled with annoyance and his gaze fell on the member next to him.

"When have I ever whined, yeah?" Deidara said defensively.

"That was that time when you kept begging to get out. And then there was the time during the Sanbi extraction. And the time when-" Tobi never managed to finish his sentence when Deidara screamed in frustration.

"I don't have time for this foolishness," Leader said.

"One of my clay birds I left in Konoha returned to me, yeah. The kunoichi's alive," he said looking once again at his Leader's projection. Leader did not answer immediately.

"Deidara. I'll give you a new assignment. You are to bring her to me. Alive. No accidental stabbing," he said his tone serious.

"But we're all the way at Kumogakure. It would take a week to get to Konoha and a few more days to get to Ame, yeah. That is if she is cooperative. Can't I just bring pieces of her? Why do you need a Leaf shinobi alive anyway?"

"There you go whining again," Tobi said in a singsong voice.

"Just do as I say. She plays an important role in or plans," he said with a tone of finality and his projection disappeared. Soon. Konan's projection disappeared too.

Great. Now he had to go all the way to Konoha.

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_He flipped through the pages of the book. Skimming through the difficult kanji. _Key? What key? What a ridiculous lie!_ His visible eye stopped when he found what he was looking for._

"The Sage of the Six Paths had separated the Jubi's power to nine different monstrous entities and the beasts were scattered across the world. The remains of the Jubi were then entombed within a colossal stone prison and hurled into the heavens, creating the moon. As a final precaution, he used the last of his chakra to bound the tomb locking it forever. The only way to release the chakra bounds was by unlocking it using the key. The key's identity is unknown. But researchers and historians have called it the Sage's Messenger and the Sage's Last Breath. It was believed that it was a flower but some believed it was a being completely made up of the Sage's remaining chakra."

_"IMPOSSIBLE!" He shouted seething with rage. He continued to flip through the pages._

"Few people have seen the key. Some have seen it the form of animals, some in the form of a flower. Only one has seen it in the form of a human: Okai Reita, a fellow countryman in Otogakure. Very few believe her words. The sightings were only reported after the sudden release of the Kyubi. After the Kyubi was resealed into another host, the sightings stopped. It is said that the key was wandering aimlessly and grew weak. Some believed that it found a host. Some said it disappeared and returned to the Sage."

_"Okai Reita? Looks like I'll have someone to pay her a visit."_

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**Teheee. I LOVE Neji. Couldn't stop myself from putting a little NejiSaku. Oh and if you squint you could see Pein/Konan XD**

** I love Tobi too. **

** Open to any advice and suggestions. Please review, yeah? **

** Chapter 4 will be coming next~**


	4. The Calm Before The Storm

I thank those who have kindly reviewed my work.

This story is definitely FAR from done. XD

Here's the next Chappie~

Star Crossed

**Chapter 4: The Calm Before The Storm.**

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Deidara sat crossed leg on the ground. His scope started to scan the dark forest. Damn Tobi, he always ended up being the lookout. He could hear Tobi snore behind him. Loudly. _Very_ loudly. He would have thought the damned mask would muffle the snoring somehow but it just seemed to amplify it. All he ever wanted was to master his art. He had ended up in Akatsuki after fish-face, Sasori and Itachi had found him. He had been working as a terrorist bomber after he became a missing-nin. The euphoria was exhilarating! Watching his beautiful creations blow up and destroy was something he loved to do. The three Akatsuki members were sent by Leader to recruit him. He had refused. But the Uchiha had challenged him to a battle, promising to leave him alone if he lost. But he was easily defeated by his Sharingan and was forced to join Akatsuki. He had been doing the organization's bidding ever since. He hated Itachi, but he knew he could not win against him. He was smart enough though, to train his left eye to counter genjutsu.

He hated it when people looked down at his art. How could they ever understand? Art is an explosion! He always blew up the people that dared to insult his art, Tobi included.

When he first joined Akatsuki, he was partnered with Sasori of the Red Sand. He was Orochimaru's partner before he defected. Sasori had never really respected his art but Deidara found his puppets intriguing. What shocked him the most was when Sasori removed Hiruko, his puppet armour. He looked younger than him! The man was over thirty for heavens sake!

Sasori's death was something Deidara did not expect. Who would have thought he wanted to die willingly in his parent's arms?

It was also when he saw the girl after four years. She had destroyed the front of the lair leaving a huge gaping hole screaming to be repaired. Her pink locks were shorter than the last time he had seen her. He doubted she would remember him. It was a long time ago.

He smirked. Fate really liked to play around with him, cause it looked like they were going to meet again.

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She opened her eyes. The room was painfully bright. She tried to turn her head but her body ached so badly. She experimented by trying to move her hands. They were working fine. She opened her eyes wider taking in the room she was in. _The hospital? How did I end up here? _

Suddenly, she remembered the mission and the searing pain across her abdomen. She had survived the last one from Sasori. Who would have thought she could survive another? Her throat felt dry. She gingerly lifted herself up to a sitting position. She expected to feel pain from her wound but did not. How long had she been unconscious?

"Sakura!"

She was instantly engulfed in a tight hug. When she pulled back she recognized her childhood friend. Her waist-length hair was tied up in a high ponytail, her bangs covering the right side of her face. He icy blue eyes were filled with concern and relief. She was dressed in her usual purple attire, though she had removed the fishnets she usually wore over her knees and elbows.

"Do you remember who you are? The reason why you're at the hospital? What month is it?" She asked her tone suddenly serious.

"Uhh.. Haruno Sakura. I got stabbed by one of the Akatsuki members. March. Ino, what's wrong? Is everyone alright?"

"Everyone was fine. Except for you," she said nervously as she started to fiddle her hair.

"Ino, I told you to wait for me. Sakura! You're awake." A familiar said from the door. She looked up to find Shikamaru. His jet-black hair had remained the same throughout the years, tied up in a spiky ponytail. He walked over to the bed and stood next to Ino. He briefly looked at Ino before speaking.

"How are you feeling? Does the Godaime know?"

"I'll go get her." Ino said.

"No. You stay here. I'll go."

"What? Shikamaru, I'm fine."

"I know. I'm just making sure of it." He planted a chaste kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

"I've been out for a day or two and you guys get busy," Sakura said a knowing smile on her lips.

"Actually you've been out for six months. Its August now."

"WHAT? That long?"

"Your wound was pretty fatal. We all thought we were going to lose you. But we still believed that you were going to pull through." She finished her sentence in a whisper.

"So, what did I miss?" Sakura asked. She hated it when people would be sad because of her. She would always try to lift up the mood. She smiled widely when Ino looked up in surprise. Even if she was gone for six months, Ino was still Ino. Talking about the happenings around the village always cheered her up. Gossip was what kept her engine running. She always figured that no man could tie her down. Ino was like a fire, uncontrollable. But she had a heart of gold and the prettiest set of icy blue eyes. After Asuma's death, she always found Shikamaru and Ino hanging out together. Sakura knew there was something going on between them but Ino would always ignore her. Sakura was starting to think that she was just imagining things until a certain incident at a party. They were all wasted after rounds and rounds of drinks. Shikamaru had boldly grabbed Ino by the waist and kissed her. Sakura's suspicions were confirmed. Shikamaru and Ino only grew closer after that.

The next few minutes Ino had talked about her wedding and other events that had happened during her six month absence. She had missed quite a lot. But Ino had showed no signs of stopping. This was going to be along day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How are you feeling today?" Her buxom shishou asked as she sent small chakra pulses across her body to check for any forms of damage that could have affected her. Her chakra felt warm.

"I feel like crap," Sakura answered.

"You look like crap," Shikamaru confirmed dryly. He was smacked by his wife and dragged out of the room, her best friend smiling and promising to visit her as soon as possible. She was wrong when she said Shikamaru had tied her down. Instead it looked like Ino had him wrapped around her little finger. But his comment still had her feeling self-conscious. She walked to the front of the mirror and observed her reflection. Her cheeks were sullen and her skin was paler than usual. Her eyes had dark rings under them. And she could only imagine how left behind she was in her training. Six months was a very long time, it looked like she had a lot of training to do get her body back in working condition. The one thing that caught her attention was her pink hair. It was longer. It grew past her usual length and her shoulders. Stopping a couple of inches after her collarbone. She had cut her hair to prove that she was capable of taking care of herself. That she was tired of watching her friend's back and would try to catch up to them. But she was ANBU now, so she chose not to cut her hair to its usual length.

"When can I be discharged, Shishou?" She asked as she turned around and focused her gaze on the blonde.

"Today, but you still have to come to the hospital for check-ups. You are going to stay in Konoha until further notice. I'm not allowing you to go on any missions until Akatsuki have been neutralized," She said as she scribbled on a notepad.

"You can't lock me in here!"

"I can! Akatsuki wants you for a reason. I don't know if it's to lure Naruto to them or because of you're healing abilities." She said sternly as she put away her notepad and enveloped Sakura in a fierce hug.

"I can't bear to lose you again, Sakura," She whispered. Sakura hugged back, she knew her Shishou only locked her in the village to keep her out of harm's way. Though she figured they wanted her for her abilities, she was not even sure if Naruto was alive. If he was, when he came back, she was going to beat him to a pulp for not contacting her.

Tsunade released her from her arms before she spoke, "I think you have a lot of catching up to do. You can leave whenever you are ready." She smiled before she left.

Sakura dressed quickly. She had been in the hospital for the past few days and wanted to get out of there fast. She wanted to have a warm shower, a decent meal and take a _really _long nap.

She left the room dressed in her usual red shirt, with a yellow shirt under it and her navy skirt. She tied her hair in a loose half ponytail. Her shorter bangs fell freely to frame her face. When she left the hospital and walked to her house she was greeted by some of the villagers that knew her. The villagers were surprised to see her and had wished for her to get well soon. She stood in front of the door and was about to unlock it when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Sakura.."

"Neji!" She exclaimed, shocked. His long, flowing, dark brown hair reached the middle of his back and was tied a few inches above the end. She could never understand how it never got in the way while in battle, her hair always did.

"Do you want to come in?" She asked, smiling sweetly as she opened her house door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji had waited for this moment. The moment when he would be given a chance to say.._something_. But her presence was so surreal. A Hyuga was never at a loss for words, always calm, collected…. Oh, he was a disgrace to the Hyuga clan. He groaned inwardly.

"I'm on my way to a mission."

"Oh." Was she _disappointed_? "Good luck, then," She said as she entered, closing the door.

He walked away from her house and started his way towards the meeting place. _You're an idiot Neji! How could you have left that chance go? You could have said a 'thank you' at least. She saved your life for heaven's sake!_ He was mentally beating himself when he started to near the meeting place. He needed to get this mission over and done with.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_"It is confirmed. Okai Reita has seen the key in its human form. Though it still surprises me it would be her."_

_ "Why do we need her alive? Madara."_

_ "Your plan will not work without her. You want war to cease, yes? Then we need _her_ to make sure the tailed beasts does not go out of control."_

_ "How are you so sure?"_

_ "It is written in the archives. The Yonbi has also confirmed it."_

"She would still be well protected. The last attack did not end so well. She survived it though."

_ "Of course. The key would not let its host die so easily. But it would be a challenge to try and get her out of Konoha. Perhaps you should send more people to aid us. Deidara-_senpai_ is not strong enough."_

_ "But you're his partner. Shouldn't you aid him?"_

_ "The fool is not competent enough. Send Kisame and Itachi. The Sharingan would be of great use. I cannot use my Sharingan under the guise of Tobi."_

_ "Fine. I will contact them."_

"And Nagato, contact me once you have found the Kyubi. It would be easier to kill two birds with one stone."

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Deidara was definitely pissed. He wanted to freaking blow something up! He was perfectly capable of capturing the kunoichi. Why would Leader need to send people to help them? Especially _him_. The last thing he needed was to _accidentally _blow the damn Uchiha up. So what if he massacred his whole clan?

He was already so near the Fire Country border. Now he needed to wait for fish-face and _him_. His scowl deepened. Not that he actually _had _a plan. He just vaguely planned to fly into Konoha and blow up some buildings to lure pinky out. Then he would knock her out and escape out of Konoha. Simple and easy. Sure she was a member of ANBU. How strong could she be? Punching through a huge stonewall was no big deal either. And she could not have defeated Sasori without the help of the old hag. Oh god, he was in _denial_. He sighed inwardly and decided to wait patiently for the other two members. For now he was going to-

"WHAT THE FUCK, TOBI!" He screamed in horror.

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Wassup! Hehe. What did Tobi do? I leave that to you're imagination! XD

Chapter five will be coming soon~!

Review please. Cause I love reviews. XD


	5. The Capture

**WOOOT~! I thank those whom have read my fic and are looking forward to the next chapter.**

**And VOILA! Here it is enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)**

Star Crossed

**Chapter 5: The Capture**

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Sakura had been training since the rose-pink light of dawn. She hated feeling weak and vulnerable. So, she decided to train as much as she could in one day. She had spent most of the day trying to get her body back in working condition by practicing her taijutsu moves and her chakra control. Though she knew she did not need to practice much on the latter. Ever since she was young controlling her chakra was simply too easy. She could recall the time when she had managed to climb to the top of the tree when Sasuke and Naruto could not. Her chakra reserves were almost finished and she was _hungry_.

She was making her way towards Ichiraku Ramen when she was stopped by one of Tsunade's ANBU bodyguards. "Sakura-san, Hokage-sama would like to see you," the ANBU said behind his mask in a monotonous voice. _Shishou? What would she need from me at this time?_ She nodded in assent and let the ANBU lead her towards the Hokage's office.

Upon entering, she was greeted by a very elated Shizune. Like her Shishou, Shizune had engulfed her in a hug. Much stronger than Sakura thought her small frame could muster. The buxom blonde studied her openly, noting the dirt and muck that was stuck to her clothes and face. She probably looked like crap. And maybe she smelled the part too.

She saw her former sensei leaning on the wall with his usual orange companion in his hand. His eye creased and Sakura smiled back. She could almost remember the times when her porn obsessed sensei would always come late for their meetings and missions. He always seemed to have an excuse ready. Whether it was saving a squirrel from being eaten or helping and old lady to cross the road. The credibility of his excuses has yet to be seen.

"Sakura, I have received information that Sasuke has been spotted. Apparently, he had been working with a couple of missing-nins from other nations," her Shishou said, her light brown eyes showing concern.

_What?_

Her head was swirling and she was beginning to feel dizzy. _Sasuke is alive!_ Then it dawned on her; he had willingly left his team and his country for power and _then_ teamed up with a bunch of criminals. What has he done? She started to feel hurt. Was she too much of a nuisance? Was she too weak? A wave of emotions rushed through her like a tsunami. But that was not the best part.

"We have also received news that Orochimaru was killed by Sasuke. He was also spotted engaged in a battle with Naruto. Both survived the battle."

_Naruto?_ Which meant that both her boys were alive! She felt incredibly happy yet incredibly enraged. Naruto was alive and yet he had not returned to Konoha and had left her just like Sasuke. Though the circumstances were different, he had left with one of the legendary sannin to be trained. He did not leave her on a bench after knocking her out. She remembered he had promised to bring Sasuke back. She felt a wave of guilt. Maybe that was why he had never returned. Naruto would always keep his promises.

Suddenly, the Hokage's office door opened and two Konoha shinobi stumbled into the room. They were usually known as the Godaime's gophers. Izumo and Kotetsu were both sweating and panting heavily.

"Hokage-sama! Akatsuki has infiltrated Konoha!" Izumo said in a rushed panic. Tsunade's eyes widened and she abruptly stood up slamming her hands on her desk and cauding her chair to be pushed back violently. "WHAT?"

"There are three. But they haven't done anything to jeopardize any of the villagers' lives. They're just standing at the gates," Kotetsu said, relatively calmer than his partner.

"Sakura, stay here. I'll sort this out. Hatake, follow me. Shizune! Send some of my ANBU to the area." She ordered as she got stormed out of the room with Kakashi in tow. Shizune had frantically started to pick up some documents and dragged both Kotetsu and Izumo out of the room, leaving her alone. Did they really expect for her to just sit down and wait? She knew better than to just go out and walk to Akatsuki. Whatever they wanted from her, she was not going to give it without a fight. She got out of the room and took the nearest flight of stairs to the roof. She would be able to watch the happenings from afar without being spotted.

She crouched on the roof and masked her chakra just in case. From where she was standing she could roughly make out three silhouettes in the distance. One of them was very tall and towered over the other two members. The other two were shorter and was difficult to recognize due to her distance.

"Like what you see, pinky?"

Before she could turn around she felt something sharp pierce her skin. A syringe was sticking out of her right arm. And-_shit_-the contents were empty. She quickly worked her chakra through her body trying to metabolise the poison that was sent through her blood stream. But the poison was travelling too fast. She grabbed the syringe and yanked it out, smelling the contents before throwing it aside. It smelled strange and foreign. She could not recognize what was in the poison, making it harder for her to metabolise it.

"It was double the dosage I was suppose to give you, yeah. I'm surprised your still standing."

The voice sounded familiar and she tried to look up at the enemy. But her vision was blurry and it was starting to get more difficult for her to keep her eyes open. She fell on her knees, unable to stand any longer.

"What have you done to me you son of a bitch?" she demanded. She tried in vain to muster enough strength to sound more convincing but she only managed to slur her sentence out like a drunken person.

She only heard laughter before she completely succumbed to the darkness. Oh, she was definitely going to beat this guy up when she woke up.

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Kakashi stood behind Tsunade as she started to speak, "What is your business here, Akatsuki?" He could see Tsunade was trying her best not to lose control and let her anger take over her. She _was_ well known for her brute strength, besides her terrible gambling abilities. He looked at the member of Akatsuki before him, his muscles tense and ready for battle. He could easily recognize the members, Hoshigake Kisame, Uchiha Itachi and.. Uhhh.. The guy in the orange mask. Though he could vaguely remember him using his Whack-A-Mole jutsu. He was not so sure. And he, of all people should know that one should never underestimate an enemy in a mask. Even if the mask was a terrible orange colour that strangely reminded him of Naruto.

The mass murderer looked up. "We are only here for a mere visit. We will take what we need and go."

"You're not taking anything from Konoha as long as I'm still breathing!" The Godaime said threateningly stamping her foot and leaving a crack on the ground. There was a moment of silence before Orange Mask spoke.

"Tobi thinks senpai must have finished by now." _What?_ He could see the Uchiha close his eyes in frustration and the tallest among the group glaring at Orange Mask. If looks could kill, he would be dead. _Very_ dead.

As if on cue, he felt a strong burst of chakra fly over them. He only lifted his head for a split second before the whole area was completely covered in smoke, courtesy of one of the Akatsuki members. The smoke was not deadly, but it was thick enough to help with the Akatsuki's escape. He swiftly removed his hitai-ate from his Sharingan eye and scanned the area. He could sense their chakra signatures starting to grow faint. They were getting further. But there were not three, there were _four_-no-_five_?

_Sakura! _

He quickly got himself out of the smoke and noticed the ANBU guards had gotten the Godaime out of the smoke too.

"Hokage-sama. They have taken Sakura," he said, his voice filled with urgency. He could see the Hokage start to tremble with rage. She nodded her assent to him before ordering some of her bodyguards to go after them and retrieve what was stolen form Konoha. He could tell she would have wanted to go and retrieve her apprentice as well, but her duty was to Konoha first.

Kakashi and a couple of Tsunade's bodyguards leapt from their spot and started to run towards the enemy nin. They were starting to get close to the enemy when one of them stopped running and waited for their arrival.

It was Orange Mask.

"Tobi cannot let you go," he said playfully, as if it was a game. Before Kakashi could order a couple of the bodyguards to go and chase after Sakura. Kunai flew from every direction and struck the ANBU members. Kakashi managed to reach for his kunai and deflect them. The other members had fallen, only his Sharingan allowed him to see the attack coming. But even with the Sharingan, it was completely too fast and inhumanely possible! Though being a shinobi meant front row tickets to all kind of inhumanely and creepy abilities and people like mouths on hands, puppets made out of people and maybe a guy in an orange mask.

He did not have time for this. The more time he wasted on Orange Mask the further away the kidnappers would get.

He lunged towards the enemy kunai in hand. Soon, they were engaged in a battle. Their hands and feet were like a blur moving in fast speeds, kicking and dodging. He had definitely underestimated the guy.

Orange Mask-or Tobi-dodged Kakashi's punch and tried to kick him using his legs. Kakashi jumped and dodged the attack. _Time to end this._ With a few quick hand seals, he quickly sent chakra to his hands. The blue electrical chakra started to build up at the palm of his hand as he started to charge at the enemy.

He pierced his hand through the enemy's chest. The electrical chakra slowly started to dissipate. But he felt the enemy nin start to feel mushy and soft like..like.._clay._ He yanked his arm out of the clay clone and watched it as it slowly turned to a puddle of yellow-brown muck. He looked up from the puddle and tried to use his Sharingan to find the escaped Akatsuki members.

They were gone.

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Deidara muttered curses under his breath.

First he had to take this pink haired kunoichi to Ame _alive_.

Second he had to work with one of the guys he _hated_ the most.

Third he had to carry her all the way.

Fourth he could not ride his clay bird as a mode of transportation as it could be spotted easily.

And Fifth he had to make a clay clone of _Tobi_.

Tobi was beyond excited. He finally got to see himself in clay form after being rejected by him so many times.

It was getting better and better.

They had already gotten pretty far from Konoha. Though they are still not safe yet. It would be too risky to travel straight to Ame since it was where the main Akatsuki lair was hidden. They decided they would stop at Takigakure where they had a hidden base before they would set out again. Now he had to carry the woman _all_ the way to their base in Takigakure. How great was that?

"It's going to get dark. We should stop and make camp. Find any dingy cave nearby?" He heard fish-face say from in front of him. He smirked. No matter how grave the situation they would always end up in cave.

"There is an unused log cabin further down. There are no inhabitants and it seems to be abandoned. We will make camp there." He heard another voice to his left that definitely belonged to the Uchiha.

When they arrived at the log cabin it looked old and about ready to collapse. But anything was better than a cave. A bunch of wood falling on them would not kill them anyway.

Deidara dropped the woman unceremoniously. She would be unconscious for at least a week; he did give double the dosage.

"How much did you give to her?" Kisame said, poking her body with Samehada lightly.

"Double, yeah." He answered.

"Are you crazy? You could have killed her! Leader clearly said he wanted her alive."

"She's still alive." Deidara replied defensively.

Kisame merely grunted and decided to rest at one corner of the room. He knew that they would have to leave early tomorrow and decided to rest. But he knew he was _really_ close to blowing _everybody_ up.

Sakura woke up from her slumber. She clearly remembered yesterday's events. Oh, she was going to enjoy beating them. Did they really think she was weak? She did not open her eyes and continued to feign her sleep. She could clearly hear voices. Were here kidnappers _bickering_? _Unbelievable!_ She could feel that her hands and feet were tied up with ropes that were infused with chakra. _Wow! They really underestimated me. _When she reached seventeen she had learnt how to 'save' her chakra. This technique helped whenever she had completely run out of chakra. Her saved chakra served as a backup whenever she was in need of it. She usually did not need to tap into those reserves. She was grateful now she had it. Not only that, she had also devised a technique that would easily break her chakra bound ropes. No, she was no longer the crying girl that always stood behind her boys. She could take care of herself now.

She could remember the days she spent perfecting her new technique. It allowed her to concentrate her chakra at the tip of her fingertips, making a sharp point. It allowed her to cut through arteries, stitch wounds and much more.

Using her special technique, she slowly sent very small chakra pulses to the rope to slowly cut her way through. She felt the ropes loosen and with lightning speed she got herself free. She definitely caught her captors off guard as they were staring at her wide-eyed. She quickly punched a whole through the cabin and ran out. She was not going to run yet. She smirked as she faced the four Akatsuki members in a battle stance.

She studied her opponents. She could easily recognize most of them as she always ended up flipping through the Bingo Book. They stood in a line facing her, expecting her to make the first move. Did they really think that she was easy prey? That only enraged her much more.

"What the hell? You're supposed to be unconscious for al least a week, yeah."

Her eyes travelled from the large, blue one to the blonde. She immediately recognized the voice. It was _him_! He was the one that poisoned her! Her eyes narrowed. He had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail with bangs covering one eye. The style reminded her of Ino.

She knew all her weapons were taken from her. But one thing she had learned from Tenten was that to always make sure one is _never_ vulnerable. She slipped her hand under her medic apron and took out a poisoned kunai she had stashed underneath it. She saw amused looks from her captors before the cocky blonde started to attack her.

Her training with Tsunade had made her flexible and fast to avoid the enemy's attacks. She dodged and deflected the blonde's attacks. From what she knew, the blonde was called Deidara. He was a long range and explosives expert. But his taijutsu skills were pretty good. His attacks were fast and every move was made to hit her. She dodged and waited for an opening.

He tried to strike a blow at her face but she dodged it placing her hands on the ground and kicking him in the face. He lifted his head up to dodge the attack. _There! An opening!_ Quickly, she landed on her feet and her hand connected with his jaw. He was thrown a few metres before lying face down unconscious. She had not used a lot of chakra on that blow since she did not want to waste it. But it was enough to at least dislocate his jaw and knock him unconscious.

"Senpai! Tobi's turn!" She heard the Orange Mask exclaim before he lunged towards her. Tobi was a lot faster than his 'senpai' but his attacks were a little sloppy as if he was going easy on her. Every time she tried to land a blow, he would always use his Earth jutsu that would cause him to sink underground and appear somewhere else. It frustrated her. So, she stopped her mindless attacks and stood still. Using her chakra to sense his oncoming presence. When he appeared behind her, with her kunai, she slashed through his Akatsuki cloak and managed to scratch him. That was enough for the poison to do its job. Though it would be slow and painful. Using her quick reflexes, she sent chakra to her legs and kicked him in the face to knock him out. She did not need to use a lot of chakra since the poison would do all the work.

She had used a considerable amount of her chakra reserves. She only wanted to get payback on the guy who poisoned her. With that done, she turned around and started to run. Going against Kisame and the Uchiha would maybe be too much for her.

She ran as fast as her chakra infused legs could carry her. Her ponytail had gone loose and her hair was starting to stick to her sweaty neck. She could sense her two captors running after her and they were _really_ fast. She turned behind briefly to throw her poisoned kunai at them. But to her surprise, she felt her back come in contact with something warm. She turned around.

Her eyes connected with the mass murderer's red eyes, the black tomoe spinning dangerously. His hand was firmly grasped on her neck making sure her eyes would look into his. She was not going to go down like this. She kicked hard on, where she hoped would be, his groin area. His grip immediately loosened and as he clutched onto his tender area. If she were not in such deep trouble she would be laughing so hard. She held him by his Akatsuki cloak and flipped him over her back with as much strength she could muster. It left a crater like hole on the ground where his body landed. When she was about to let go, his hand gripped her wrist painfully and his Sharingan started to change its form. But in her position, her eyes were already locked onto his. _No! Not yet!_ She thought stubbornly. She felt her body growing weak and eyes start to close. In her last attempt, she sent the last of her chakra from her wrist to his arm shattering the bones and severing arteries before she passed out.

Damn. Foiled again.

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Deidara struggled to sit up. The bitch had dislocated his jaw and _fuck_ it hurt. _Déjà_ _vu_ he thought as he vaguely recalled the first time her fist had connected with his jaw. Back then she did not have monstrous strength.

He watched as Kisame returned with the kunoichi on his shoulder and what seemed like the Uchiha on the other. He dropped both of them on the ground. The Uchiha grunted in pain.

"You guys do realize that you were defeated by a little girl," he said mockingly as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Not to mention the fact that she _barely_ had enough chakra and had only _one_ kunai," he added as he smiled revealing a set of sharp teeth. He was definitely enjoying it too much. Deidara grunted, or he tried to, it was difficult when one's jaw was dislocated.

"We need her to wake up, so she can heal you idiots," Kisame said as he crouched to look at the kunoichi.

"Are you mad? She could try to attack us again!" Deidara tried to speak.

"Then tie her up. Use your clay instead of the ropes," he replied easily. Deidara walked over to the pink haired kunoichi and with his clay he started to create bounds that would tie her up and hopefully stop her from attacking again. Itachi started his way towards the kunoichi and he lightly tapped her forehead.

Instantly, her eyes flew open. Revealing a set of emerald orbs. Her eyes studied her surroundings before she scowled. Itachi studied her curiously as if she was the strangest thing he had seen.

She sat up and struggled with her bounds before she stared at the Uchiha straight in the eye. _Only and idiot would do that_, Deidara thought.

"You are not afraid, kunoichi?" The Uchiha asked, his voice void of emotion and his face as stoic as ever.

"You look so much like him, yet so different," She answered back. It was obviously a topic the mass murderer did not like to talk about as he did not reply and continued to stare at her.

"But you should know by now that I've seen my share of weirdoes. Your Mangekyou Sharingan, mouths on hands, a fish on land and a guy wearing an orange mask. Seen one seen them all," She added confidently. Deidara raised in eyebrows in amusement. The girl had much more spunk that he thought.

"We need you to heal these idiots," Kisame said.

"If you haven't noticed. My chakra reserves are close to depleted."

"Fine. Than you will heal them tomorrow. You got it? Or I'll personally go back to your country and kill everyone in the village. Itachi isn't the only one capable of mass murder," Kisame threatened, his voice dripping with malice and murderous intent. The kunoichi seemed to hesitate for a few minutes before she finally looked up and answered.

"Fine. I'll do your bidding. Just stay away from my village."

Kisame nodded and walked to his corner of the cabin. With the gaping hole in the cabin Deidara was surprised it was still standing. All he knew was he was tired and was in dire need of sleep.

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"What?" He asked, incredulous. He left the village for a day or two for a simple mission. Now when he returned, Sakura was taken!

"Neji, I want you and your team to track her down. They shouldn't have gone far and Sakura would have left a trail." Tsunade said her voice serious.

"You can leave whenever you are ready," she added before she dismissed Neji and his team.

Neji walked out of the Hokage's office and started his way towards the Hyuga Residence. He had only gotten his cherry blossom back only to lose her again. He failed her once. He was not going to fail her again.

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"Deidara. Check if she's got any more weapons hidden somewhere," Kisame said as he got up from his sitting position.

"And what is wrong with Tobi?" He added. Sakura smirked. Tobi had been unconscious since yesterday. Her poison must be working through his body. No matter how much she would want to see the Akatsuki destroyed she had to heal them. If not, the lives of her loved ones would be at stake. She was not going to see any of her love ones suffer. Not when she knew Naruto and Sasuke were alive. There were not going to be any deaths on her account.

The blonde walked closer to her. He looked tired and his bright blue eyes had dark circles under them. She imagined he would not have gotten a lot of rest since the dislocated jaw would have hindered him from sleeping in peace. Though he was lucky compared to the Uchiha. Looks like Sasuke might be the only one capable enough to revive the Uchiha Clan if she did not take a look at his…injuries.

Sakura's hands were tied up behind her back and her feet were also tied up. It was definitely clay from the blonde and it was stronger than the ropes. He crouched in front of her and started to search for any weapons she might have hidden. She had a couple of senbon on the back of her ear. Though she knew he would not search there. Her eyes never left his as his hands roamed her body. Lingering on certain places longer than necessary. He removed the clay that bound her legs and feet.

"She's clear," He said as he got up and stood opposite the Uchiha who looked like he was having trouble standing. "You try anything and we'll kill you"

Sakura just laughed. Yes she was definitely afraid and intimidated by the Akatsuki's presence but she was not going cry and give them the pleasure of seeing her tremble with fear.

She stood up. She had an agreement and she was going to see through it. When Itachi's and Deidara's back was turned to her she quickly knocked them out by sending her chakra to a certain artery on their necks that would knock them unconscious. She was surprised the Uchiha could fall easily. Though she had a feeling that her injury must be distracting him greatly. Instantly a kunai was pressed to her throat,

"What do you think you're doing?" Kisame hissed in anger.

She bravely looked him in the eye and answered with as much courage she could muster, "I can't heal them if they're kicking and screaming. I only knocked them unconscious."

Kisame hesitated for a moment before backing off and throwing her medical equipments at Sakura. Immediately, she was in medic mode. Her hands working on automatic as she issued out commands to a grumpy fish to bring her the stuff she needed. First, she decided to remove the poison out of Tobi. She had an antidote but the poison would have spread to most of his arm by now. She ordered Kisame to remove all their cloaks as she tied her hair up to keep it from getting in the way.

She easily ripped Tobi's sleeve and sent her chakra into his blood stream. She activated his enzymes and white blood cells so that they would work faster to metabolise the poison. When most of the poison was metabolised, she injected the antidote and healed the bruising and the small cut. She dully noted that she needed to check on his arm a few days later to make sure it was in working condition.

Next she moved to Deidara. He was lying face down. She flipped him over and placed her hands at his temple. Her mind and hands were on automatic as she started to numb his face first, maybe numbing it a little bit too much. She placed her hands on his jaw and with a little force pushed it to its original position. She took a good look at him as she continued to heal the bruising and the cracked bones. He looked vaguely familiar and it irritated her that she could not remember him. He looked around her age give or take a couple of years. He was extremely good looking. Sakura blushed lightly as she realized she was ogling her enemy while he was unconscious. She quickly finished up her healing and placed his Akatsuki cloak over him like how she did to Tobi.

She walked over to the mass murderer and started to tend to his arm. He ordered Kisame to remove his partner's pants. She only got a confused look from Kisame before she started to explain that she had attacked him at his…tender area. The man only chuckled under his breath as he removed his partner's pants.

His arm was much worse than she thought. Every bone was shattered. She could not help but smile victoriously as she was able to do such devastating damage to an arm. She efficiently healed the bruising and started to fix whatever bones could be fixed. She bandaged the arm and reminded herself to tell him that he was not allowed to use the arm until further notice. She then started to poke and prod his…tender area. It was swollen and looked extremely painful. She sent her chakra into his tender area her hands hovering a few inches over it reducing the swelling and the pain. When she was done she continued to prod and poke in case there was any more damages she might have missed. Then she placed the Akatsuki cloak over him.

She could feel her body growing weak from her excessive use of chakra. She stumbled as she tried to stand up. When she lost her footing she expected to fall on the cold hard floor when Kisame caught her.

"Thanks," she whispered and smiled weakly before she passed out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara had just woken up from his sleep and he sat crossed legged comfortably waiting for his partner and the Uchiha to wake up. He had woken up to find his face completely numb. And it was still completely numb, though he could move his jaw easily. He also found the kunoichi asleep on Kisame's lap. With him playing with her pink locks.

Then, the Uchiha started to stir in his sleep. Deidara watched as Itachi sat up looking at his bandaged arm and half-dressed condition. He laughed as Itachi struggled to stand and put on his pants. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he eyed the sleeping kunoichi.

"She must have hit you really hard cause the swelling was pretty bad. But I couldn't tell if it was the swelling or your-" Kisame's sentence was cut half way as Deidara started to howl with laughter, clutching his stomach. The kunoichi had played dirty during the battle between her and Itachi, he only wished he was awake to see it.

Tobi had woken up soon after that. And they decided that they had spent too much time on the same spot. The kunoichi was still asleep. Deidara bound her hands and feet once again before placing her over his shoulder before setting out once again to Takigakure.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji, Shikamaru, Hinata and Kiba had been travelling at a breakneck pace ever since they had left Konoha. His Byakugan scanned the east while Hinata's Byakugan scanned the west.

"There's something further down," Kiba said as he increased his speed to lead them.

They stopped when they noticed a large crater on the ground. Akamaru and Kiba immediately stopped and started to smell the surroundings for signs of Sakura. The crater looked like something Sakura would cause. He smiled when he thought about Sakura fighting the Akatsuki. He knew how much she hated it when people looked down at her abilities. He had been one of the few people that actually survived her rage. They were nearby and had passed this area. Which meant that they were getting closer to Sakura!

Akamaru had sensed something and was leading. Hinata and Kiba followed suit. Neji was about to follow them when he felt someone holding him back.

"Neji, you gotta make sure you're feelings for Sakura don't get in the way of this mission. It could endanger people's lives," Shikamaru said his tone serious, a sudden change from his usual lazy, carefree attitude before he leapt and followed his other team mates.

_Feelings for Sakura? What feelings? How absurd!_ He thought. He did not have feelings for Sakura. Right?

He did not have time for any soul-searching. He needed to find Sakura first, and then he would figure this mess out. As he neared the his other team mates, he saw a log cabin with a gaping hole on one of it's walls.

"Sakura is leaving a trail behind for us to follow her!" Hinata said excitedly.

"Smart girl," Shikamaru said under his breath as he picked up pieces of rope and a torn sleeve that had obviously belonged to one of the Akatsuki members. He handed the sleeve and ropes over to Akamaru. With their scents, it would be easier for them to find her. And if Sakura continued to leave behind clues they would have no problem getting her back safe and sound.

He had promised he would keep her safe. And he was going to make sure he would keep his promise. No matter what.

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**TBC!**

**Nyahahahahaha! Next chapter will be coming soon. Review and Review please! XD**


	6. The Potter and The Uchiha

**Huzzah! XD I have successfully completed the longest chapter I have written yet. Muahahaha! XD Please enjoy yeah!**

**When I publish.. things get screwed up a bit.. So I apologise for that. :D**

**Star Crossed**

**Chapter 6: The Potter and The Uchiha**

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"She sleeps like a log," Deidara scoffed as he placed the kunoichi on the ground. They had been travelling for the past few hours and were getting closer to Takigakure's border. He would have thought the kunoichi would have woken up by now but she was still asleep. And he thought shinobi were supposed to be light sleepers.

"Her body seems to have shut down to recuperate," Itachi remarked as he sat down next to the girl. His staring was starting to irritate Deidara. Would the man just stop his staring! She was not some type of meat. Though it had been a long time since he has seen meat of her calibre. She had definitely grown up to become a fine specimen of meat. Every part of her was made to distract the opposite sex, from her full lips to her legs that go on for miles.

He mentally slapped himself. What the hell was he doing?

They had agreed to stop, as they were a safe distance from Konoha. Itachi and Tobi had volunteered to contact Leader while Kisame and him kept an eye on the kunoichi. As the other two start to meditate, he saw Sakura wake up.

"Oh. Thank god you're awake. Now I don't have to carry you all the way to the base," Deidara said mockingly as he looked at the kunoichi. She scowled and muttered curses under her breath something along the lines of, "I'm not that heavy."

"Where are we going anyway?" She asked as she got up.

"Northeast, yeah."

"Wonderful."

He watched as she neared a huge tree. But what he saw next was something he did not expect.

With a sharp swift blow, the petite kunoichi had knocked down a huge tree that had barely missed Kisame and him. Even though her hands were still bound she had managed to knock down the tree. Was that even possible?

"What the fuck are you doing?" Deidara shouted. The kunoichi looked confused before she replied.

"…Stress relief."

He could hear Kisame laugh from behind him, "Remind me not to get you pissed, pinky."

"Too late," She muttered under her breath as she looked at Kisame. Seems like her hair was a touchy subject.

"What do you guys want from me? I doubt I could be of use to your…cause," the kunoichi asked as she struggled with the clay bindings on her hands.

Deidara shrugged, "Leader just wants you alive, yeah."

She looked up from her bindings, "Leader?"

"Yeah. The guy that controls Akatsuki."

"Really? And you're bringing me right to him?" She seemed to be contemplating something before she spoke again.

"And Leader needs me alive, why?"

"Who knows? I proposed to bring you back in pieces, but he didn't seem thrilled with the idea, yeah."

"Of course. What would he do with my limbs?"

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"He's close! I can see traces of his chakra," Karin shouted as she leapt from branch to branch. He was close and soon he would be able to extract his revenge. He was going to kill his brother, or die trying.

Team Taka had been around the area when he saw a huge tree fall in the distance. He had suspected a battle was ensuing and he did not want to get caught in it. But Karin had confirmed that the chakra signatures were strong and had belonged to five people. She had also confirmed that one of them had belonged to his brother.

He was going to kill his brother no matter what. He increased his pace as he felt the adrenaline rush through his blood stream. He could clearly remember the last few words his brother had said after he had massacred his whole clan, to hunt him, to become strong and find him.

Sasuke had done everything possible to become strong even leaving his village and friends. He had learnt under Orochimaru and killed him when he had nothing left to offer. He regretted nothing. All he did was necessary, to make sure the Uchiha Clan would be reborn and the one who betrayed them all, killed.

His brother was going to die by his hand.

As he neared their location, he could sense five different chakra signatures. Some of them were familiar. But only one caught his attention.

"Itachi…" He said under his breath.

"Brother, this is not the time," Itachi said as he stood up. His blood boiled and he felt angry. Angry with his brother for killing his family, for wanting him to hunt him and for letting him live.

From his peripheral vision, he could see his team mates engage in battle. Karin was against a guy in a strange orange mask. Juugo was up against a blonde Akatsuki member while Suigetsu started to wield his large sword and attack his brother's partner. Usually Akatsuki worked in teams of two; it was strange that there were four of them in one place.

"Sasuke?"

The voice had sounded familiar. He averted his eyes from his brother. His eyes widened as he studied the source. Her pink hair was longer than he remembered. Her emerald orbs were wide as she stared at him. Her hands were bound. It had been ten years since he had last seen her. Ten years since he had heard her confession.

"You're really alive. Why didn't you return to Konoha after you killed Orochimaru?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Sakura. You were always a nuisance. The weak link in the Team. I don't need you getting in the way when I kill my brother," he voiced, his tone cold and emotionless.

He watched as her body started to tremble and shudder violently, her hands covering her face. He had hurt her, again. When he was about to look at his brother, he sensed another chakra presence. It was overwhelming. He noticed his brother had sensed it too. Before he could wield his sword, he felt something grasp his neck and push him. His back hit a tree hard; he could feel pain and the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He looked up expecting to see Itachi but his vision was filled with pink.

He stared, speechless as Sakura held him by the throat.

"_YOU! You're the cause of her pain and sorrow._" Sakura spoke. Her voice was distorted and it clearly did not belong to her. What was going on? He activated his Sharingan.

"_You dare use those cursed eyes on us?_" She spoke again as she exerted more pressure on his throat.

_ Us?_

"_I could kill you and end this here and now, but Sakura would not want that._"

He looked up. What he saw was not the childhood friend that had followed him around like a stalker, but a stranger. One of her eyes was emerald green while the other was grey and had a ripple like pattern.

"_She had expressed her feelings for you and you leave her behind. She clearly still cares for you, but I won't hesitate to rip your heart out if you hurt her again._" She said once again her voice threatening before letting go of his throat. She had managed to break her bounds. She took a couple of steps back before turning around.

He noticed that all four of the Akatsuki members were staring. He saw the bodies of his fallen comrades bathing in their blood.

"_What do you want from us?_" She spoke again this time eyeing the Akatsuki members. "_Leave before I kill you all!_"

"Sakura. We do not want to harm you," Itachi spoke, his voice surprisingly calm despite the situation.

Sakura glared at his brother before speaking again, "_All of you are thousands of years too young to understand. But if I fight you now, Sakura might not survive. Her human body cannot withstand my power. I have come to care for her and would not do anything to harm her._"

"Then, return Sakura to us," his brother said as he took a step forward towards the kunoichi. The possessed kunoichi turned around and fixed her mismatched gaze at Sasuke. A single tear fell from her emerald eye.

"_She wants to know. Was leaving worth it?"_

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Deidara was in shock. He had never felt so frightened before. Her chakra was overwhelming and threatening. But what shocked him the most were her eyes. One of them was clearly the Rinnegan. He had only known one person that possesses that bloodline limit. He had a feeling Leader had left out something important when he had assigned the four of them the task of bringing her to Ame alive.

He watched as Kisame picked the girl up in his arms. She had passed out. But the voice of what possessed her still rang in his head, etched in his memory.

"We have to leave," Deidara croaked. His throat was dry.

Tobi and Kisame started to leave.

"Brother, this is not the time," he heard the Uchiha repeat. He looked at the other Uchiha; he had spiky black hair that had a blue tint to it. The girl was right; he looked similar to Itachi yet so different. He watched as the black haired shinobi walked towards his brother.

"Bring me with you," the younger one said, his voice soft.

"Why?"

"I…I want to help her."

Deidara did not like the idea of him joining. There were more than enough people already. But the Uchiha did not stop his younger brother from following them. Looks like they had another mouth to feed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara glared at Sasuke. He found another Uchiha's presence intimidating and maybe, annoying. He did not need another brooding Uchiha. One was more than enough. Sasuke must have noticed he was glaring as his onyx eyes met his. And so, their staring battle ensued.

"If I'm not interrupting something. We need to contact Leader. Deidara, you do it," Kisame said as he stood at the doorway. They had arrived at their base in Takigakure a few hours ago. Hesitantly, he tore his gaze from Sasuke.

"Why do _I_ have to do it, yeah?" he asked. Kisame shrugged and walked away. Deidara scowled as he left the room. He was not planning on going on a vulnerable meditative state when there was an Uchiha in the room.

He found an empty room and sat down, cross-legged. He calmed his mind and did some seals using his hands. He felt his chakra slowly start to leak as he closed his eyes, finding himself in the lair standing on his usual position. His presence would have definitely alerted Leader; it was _his_ jutsu.

Soon, Leader's form appeared next to him. His ringed gaze reminding him of Sakura's unexpected outburst.

"We've got her. But there's something wrong with her, yeah," Deidara remarked as he looked at Leader.

"What do you mean?"

"She seems to be possessed, or there's something else living in her. Though it seems like she doesn't know anything, yeah."

"I…expected this. But I heard it wouldn't come out without cause."

"Leader. You've gotta tell us what's wrong with her or we wouldn't know what to do when _it_ appears again."

"…I'll contact you again. For now, wait at the Takigakure base."

"Fine." Deidara replied curtly as his projection started to fade.

There was definitely something Leader was not telling them. He stood up from his sitting position and walked to the living area. There, he found himself in a _very_ awkward situation.

All of them were sitting down on the table, eating their dinner. Kisame was attacking his meal like the animal he was, ignoring the tension in the room. Tobi had finished with his meal-_damn_-and was staring at his empty carton. Itachi was picking at his vegetables as Sasuke was staring at his brother. Sakura's plate was still full and looked untouched.

"You know," Sakura said slowly, "I can't eat with my hands tied."

"I'll feed you, yeah," Deidara said a little too quickly. Sasuke had stopped his staring and was glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Uh… Tempting offer. But you could just remove the bindings. I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh, right," Deidara replied, his face flushed. He walked over to the kunoichi and removed the bindings. As soon as the bindings were removed, she attacked her food stuffing large portions of it into her mouth. He could feel that his team mates had visibly relaxed. They had tensed when he was removing her bindings, expecting her to attack or an appearance from _another_ Sakura.

When they had finished with their meals. Tobi and him started to clear the table and they were about to return to their sleeping quarters when the kunoichi spoke.

"Oh yeah. I forgot something." She turned around and walked towards Sasuke. Before he could even see the attack coming, her hand had connected with his face. He flew and his back hit the wall.

"You complete idiot! You left Naruto and me for power and now you're working with these idiots to bring me to their Leader! Oh, you have no idea how long I was waiting for this chance to redecorate your face. Ugh! I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart," her voice was shrill and she was about to land another punch to his face when Kisame stopped her and placed her over his shoulder.

"Put me down you damned fish! I'm not done yet! I'm going to make sure he _regrets_ leaving the village. What kind of idiot would leave a defenceless girl on a _bench_? Put me down! I want to rip his insides out with my bare hands!"

Deidara watched in horror as Sakura struggled against Kisame's strong grasps. _This_ was definitely the real Sakura. And she was even scarier than the other one.

"Calm down, pinky. I'll let you rip him apart tomorrow," Kisame answered calmly as he carried the raging kunoichi out of the room. He could still hear her screaming and cursing.

"Hell has no fury like a woman scorned. What have you gotten yourself into little brother?" Itachi said as he walked out of the room.

Sasuke removed himself from the wall and rubbed his face, which was starting to swell and turn purple. He walked in daze out of the room. Deidara chuckled; things were starting to get interesting.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama!" Shizune called as she pushed her way through the throng of people in the hallway. When she finally found her way to the Hokage's office, she pushed the doors wide open and went in.

"Tsunade-sama! We've found the document!" She walked in and placed the brown folder on the desk, surprising the buxom blonde. The Hokage nodded her thanks and started to flip through the brown folder. She watched expectantly as Tsunade started to skim through the kanji.

"Shizune! Find Hatake and bring him here!" The Hokage ordered, her voice filled with urgency. Shizune was caught off guard and was shocked at the sound of her urgent voice. She quickly ran out of the office in search of the Copy nin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke stood in front of the door, contemplating. Should he enter? Should he leave? Was she going to attack him again? He reached out and his hand grasped the doorknob firmly.

"The door is chakra sealed. No one can go in or out. Only the person that sealed that door can."

He lifted his head.

"Itachi.."

"She was one of the few people."

"What?"

"She resisted my Sharingan, even in it's Mangekyou form."

"That's impossible."

"The Mangekyou does not affect her. Though I suspect it's due to… the other Sakura."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know." Itachi looked at him one more time before walking to his quarters.

Sasuke was more confused than ever. _Sakura had resisted the Sharingan?_ He had always remembered her as the weak pink-haired kunoichi. How strong had she gotten since he had last seen her? He had heard rumours of her, defeating an Akatsuki, saving one of the Kazekage's siblings and even her special healing abilities. It fascinated him that Sakura was stronger and he wanted to know just how strong she was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura sat on he bed, her chin on her knees. She frowned. There were blanks in her memory and it frustrated her that she could not remember anything. She remembered looking into Itachi's eyes…then nothing. She woke up in the same damned cabin after that. She remembered Sasuke's hurtful words…then nothing. She woke up when they had arrived in the new base. It was strange that there would be blanks in her head. Did she pass out? She had spent the past few minutes prodding her body with her chakra but she did not detect anything foreign. It frustrated her that she could not do anything and when she was frustrated she needed to smash things.

The room she was in was small and dark. She got up from her sitting position and placed a hand on the doorknob, immediately she could sense another presence on the other side of the door. When she removed her hand, the presence disappeared. So, they were keeping watch on her. If she smashed the wall she would be able to escape, but she did not know where she was. She hoped that the giant tree was enough of a hint for somebody from her village to find her. She had specifically knocked down the tree in the northeast direction. She hoped someone would be able to get the hint and find her soon.

The sudden appearance of her former team mate had complicated things, or made things easier. She would be able to bring him back to Konoha.

Sakura sighed. What was she supposed to do while waiting for somebody to come get her? She flopped down onto the small bed. She felt bare without her weapons. And she was extremely bored. She got up from her position and stared out of the singular window in the room.

From her window she could see that they were no longer in Fire Country. She could faintly hear water, like a waterfall. She smiled. Now she knew _exactly _where they were. The waterfall was a dead give away. It was now or never. Even of she died trying, Akatsuki would never get to achieve whatever goals they needed without her.

She walked away from the window, removing her hitai-ate and tying it around her eyes. She did not want to repeat the same mistake and get caught in Itachi's or Sasuke's Sharingan. She remembered the training Tsunade had given her; to use her senses than her eyes when it came to dodging the enemies attacks. When Kisame was carrying her, she took the opportunity to memorize the hallway. She was not near the exit but she definitely knew how to get there. Sending her chakra to her fist, she destroyed the door. Wood flew everywhere. Almost immediately she felt arms restraining her. With a roar, she tossed the two that were grabbing her arms. Using her memory, she started to mentally count the steps to the exit as she ran.

She felt a presence in front of her.

"Where do you think you're going, yeah?"

_Deidara._

She knew, his long-range attacks would not work in the small hallway. So, she just continued to run towards him, she faked her attack. She could sense that he had jumped over her, giving her the opportunity to continue running.

_…Twenty. Twenty-one…_

She turned to her left. She was getting closer to the exit. She stopped as she felt another block her way and another behind her. She was cornered. She _hated_ being cornered. But she could recognize the chakra signature.

_Sasuke..._

Once again, a wave of emotions hit her like a tsunami. She charged towards the Uchiha. She could not see him, but she could sense him. She dodged his attack and tried to kick his abdomen. He used her missed attack to trip her with his feet. She landed with a thud onto the ground. She could sense the other Akatsuki members nearing. She sent chakra to both her hands and hit the ground, causing Sasuke to lose his balance. She quickly got up and kicked the Uchiha in the solar plexus. She heard him grunt in pain. But the Uchiha was faster; he had removed his sword from its sheath and sliced the headband causing it to fall to the ground with a soft thud.

Her eyes flew open and connected with his red eyes.

She forced herself to close her eyes but it was too late. Pain shot through her before the same person knocked her out twice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara rubbed his sore hands. The kunoichi was strong. She had destroyed the door and came out with her hitae-ate tied around her eyes. It was certainly suicidal.

"She's more trouble than we thought, yeah," he said as he cleaned the dust from his cloak. He lifted his head from his dusting and found Sasuke carrying the kunoichi bridal style in his arms.

"Deidara-senpai, we can't put her in the same room with the door gone," Tobi said as he studied the remnants of the door.

"There's more rooms down the hallway. We'll put her in one of those rooms, yeah."

"That won't work. She might do the same thing again," Sasuke said.

"Then we'll have one of us take care of her. We'll take turns everyday until Leader contacts us again," Kisame replied easily, picking up Samehada.

"How do we decide whose turn it is?" Tobi asked as he started to study the unconscious kunoichi still in the Uchiha's arms.

"Deidara, Sasuke, Tobi, Itachi then me. You got it?" Kisame answered.

"Why do you decide everything, yeah?"

"We can argue about this but the girl could wake up any minute."

"Fine." He answered curtly, before leaving.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara walked into the kunoichi's room with breakfast in hand. He had a crick in his neck for sleeping on the floor throughout the night.

"You awake, yeah?" He asked as he saw the kunoichi sitting down, cross-legged on the bed. He placed the food tray on the bed next to the kunoichi and proceeded to sit on the floor, on the same spot he had slept.

"Thanks to you. All of us has to take turns on keeping an eye on you until Leader contacts us, yeah."

"I don't want to be in the same room as Sasuke. Or any of the Uchiha brothers actually."

"It's your fault for suddenly trying to escape. How could you fight with your eyes closed, yeah?"

"Training." She answered simply as looked at Deidara and smiled. He could feel heat rush to his cheeks. She was smiling even in this situation. He could remember the first time he had seen her warm smile. Nobody in Iwa had ever smiled at him before; his bloodline limit seemed to have scared most of them away. His art was more important.

In his daydreaming, he did not notice that she had walked closer and was sitting in front of him. She reached out and touched his cheek. Her thumb grazed his cheekbone.

"What are you doing, yeah?" He asked in a low voice.

"I'm checking on your jaw. I may be your prisoner but I'm a medic above all else," She replied as her hand started to glow a mint green. Her touch was warm and her chakra was calming. He leaned slightly into her touch closing his eyes. Her nimble hand started to travel from his cheek and her fingers traced his jaw line. Her hand travelled from his cheek to the back of his neck and he could feel her massaging the muscle knots that was constantly causing him pain. He placed his forehead on her shoulder as he pulled her closer to him. She did not seem to mind and continued to massage the knots out of his neck.

"You know, I want to take a bath. I haven't bathed in three days," he heard her say as she removed her fingers from his neck. He reluctantly lifted his head and answered.

"I can tell, yeah"

He got up from his position and walked to the door. "Come on. Get your stuff, I'll show you to the bathroom." Sakura smiled and followed him to the bathroom.

"You've got ten minutes before I come in, yeah."

"Wouldn't you like that?" She said sarcastically as she entered the bathroom. As a matter of fact, yes, he would like that.

As he stood waiting outside, realization suddenly dawned on him; he dropped his guard around the kunoichi. She could have easily killed him on the spot! But she did not. He started to wonder why. Did she remember their first meeting? He could not help but feel a little hopeful.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura started to wash the grime and dirt that was stuck on her body. It felt good to finally get a bath. But she only had ten minutes and she planned to use it wisely, she was not about to let an Akatsuki member barge in and get a look at her goods.

Over the years, her choice of clothing had changed but the red colour still remained. She still wore her sleeveless red shirt but she wore many small arm-belts on her left arm to help her chakra flow and to cover her ANBU tattoo. But since, that was not necessary, she removed the arm-belts. She still wore her medic's skirt and shorts but one of her legs had similar bands like the one on her arm to also help with her chakra flow. She chose not to remove them, as they would help her when she needed to make a quick escape.

The members of the Akatsuki had planned to keep an eye on her each day by taking turns. How was she supposed to plan an escape if one of them kept an eye on her twenty-four seven? But part of her wanted to meet this 'Leader' so that she could find out what he wanted from her. He was going to be severely disappointed with her, as she was not planning on helping anybody that would jeopardize her friend's lives.

Speaking of helping, she remembered her former team mate. Why was he helping Akatsuki? What was he planning on gaining from this?

Since she was kidnapped and did not have any extra clothes with her, she had no choice but to clean her current clothes as best as she could before putting it on again. With one last check in the mirror, she exited the bathroom. Deidara was still waiting outside with his back resting against the wall. He had looked familiar like she had seen him before but she could not remember.

"About time, yeah," he muttered angrily under his breath as he removed himself from the wall and started to lead them back to the room. He took his usual spot on the floor and removed his Akatsuki cloak. He wore a sleeveless grey shirt that revealed his abdomen showing the mesh shirt underneath it. He had a very sinewy form. His muscles were well defined due to his training as a shinobi in Iwa. What caught her attention were the stitches on both his arms. She figured it was when one of the Akatsuki members, Kakuzu, had stitched his arms back. One part of his left arm was darker than his usual skin tone. It probably did not belong to him.

She looked away not wanting to get caught ogling her enemy.

"Hey. What problem do you have with Itachi's otouto, yeah?" He asked looking at her direction.

"Everything. I _still_ want to rip him apart," she flopped down on the bed scowling.

"What did he do? He seemed to have really pissed you off for you to scream and lose your cool, yeah." Her scowl disappeared.

"He left the village for power. He didn't even think twice about it. He just packed his bag and left. I knew he was going to leave us soon, so I waited for him near the gates. Naruto and Kakashi both said that everything was going to be all right and that he wasn't stupid enough to leave the village. But he did. I tried to stop him, I _begged_ him not to leave, promising that the times that we would spend together would always be happy. I even said I would leave the village with him, leave everything behind and leave with him. I conveyed my feelings to him. But he just knocked me out and left me on the cold bench. The last thing I heard from him was 'Thank you'."

"You wanted to leave with him? Did you really love him that much, yeah?"

She let out a small laugh. "I _thought_ I was in love with him. But after both my team mates left, I was left alone. I had a lot of time to do some soul-searching. I learnt that I only wanted to fix him but I still care for him and I wouldn't hesitate to kill him if it means stopping him from destroying himself any further. Why am I telling you this, anyway?"

"I've been told I have a trustworthy face, yeah."

She laughed. "Maybe. Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why did you leave your village?"

"It stopped me from perfecting my art. Everyone seemed to always look down on me. I wanted to show them that my art was superior. I didn't want to live in Iwa anymore. They were holding me back. The people there found my bloodline limit intimidating. I was the only one left anyway, yeah."

"You were the only one? What happened to your clan?"

"They were all killed by the Third Tsuchikage after they tried to overthrow him. I happened to be the only surviving member left and the Third Tsuchikage was planning on using me as a weapon. When the opportunity came, I left, yeah."

"How did you survive being a missing-nin?"

"I was involved in terrorist bombings. I could easily use my bloodline limit without being judged and mastered my art, yeah. Why did _you_ become a shinobi?"

"My family was against the idea at first. They wanted me to live a normal life, get married and have kids. When I was small I was saved by a shinobi, ever since then I aspired to be just like him, helping people in need. The next thing I knew I was training under Tsunade, making use of my healing abilities."

"That explains how you were able to recover from the poison, yeah."

She smiled and started to play with her pink locks. "I can control any part of the human body."

Deidara was about to speak again before the door opened and Tobi entered. "Deidara-senpai, Sakura-san, lunch is here!"

Sakura stood up and followed both Deidara and Tobi to the kitchen. All the Akatsuki members had removed their cloaks. Without them, they looked almost… normal.

Tobi still wore his orange mask.

It was strange that she was eating lunch with members of Akatsuki. She thought they would have been more cruel and unforgiving when in came to keeping her as a prisoner. She did not expect she would eat her meals with them. It felt weird.

When she entered the kitchen and took her seat on the table, she could feel Sasuke's gaze. Was he angry that she had punched him? Well, he had it coming.

"ANBU? You're in ANBU?"

Sakura turned her head to look at her former team mate. He still looked incredibly good-looking. His hair was longer and he allowed his bangs to grow over his forehead. His face was chiselled, his jaw line more defined. But, his eyes were still cold, void of emotion. She stared into those onyx eyes, trying to search for the childhood crush she once knew. Once again, she felt betrayed, hurt and _lost_. She was unsure how to feel. The bonds and ties had been severed years ago, but why was he here? She lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek. He tensed and continued to study her, his onyx eyes travelling over her face. Her hand started to glow a faint green as she started to heal the purple bruise on his cheek, the one she had caused the other day. When it was fully healed, she stroked his cheek with her thumb before removing her hand from his cheek.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," she whispered sadly before leaving the room.

She sat on the bed, staring blankly at the wall. The emotions she had locked away started to flow freely. She could feel tears start to form and her body start to tremble. Only sheer willpower stopped her breaking down. She had tried to lock away those emotions, the pain and the realization that she was alone. It took her years to finally move on and concentrate on her training. She remembered how lonely she felt when Sasuke had left and Naruto soon afterwards. She felt useless and _weak_. She remembered the nights she spent crying for both of her boys. The unanswered questions that always seemed to keep her awake every night. _Were they alive?_ She would lie in her bed for days without food and water, until Ino would come and force her to eat. She could still remember the sad look on her friend's face, the encouraging words she would say to her. When Ino had cried in front of her one night, she realized that she was only causing others pain. She vowed that night that she would protect anyone from feeling the pain she felt.

But, when she saw Deidara enter the room with the same look of worry Ino had, she could no longer hold back the tears. _He just had to look so much like her. _She thought bitterly as she cried, her hands covering her face. She could feel strong arms engulf her. She cried harder as she grabbed onto Deidara's shirt, her tears soaking it a darker grey. The emotions and pain she had locked away had finally been released and she cried like she never cried before. She could feel Deidara stroke her hair comfortingly and hold her against him tighter as she continued to cry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara had woken up earlier than the pink haired kunoichi, still in his arms. He did not want to wake her up just yet. He revelled in the way her small form fit snugly in his arms. He loved the feel and smell of her hair in his face. It did not matter to him that she was his enemy. What mattered to him was that moment. When the Uchiha had asked her a question he saw how her face reflected her emotions. Ranging from anger, pain, betrayal and confusion. It was like his art, always changing and never the same. Watching her cry had made his hart ache for some strange reason. He could not understand why. He could not explain the emotion he was feeling. It was different from the euphoria he felt whenever he blew something up. It was… nice.

He felt her long lashes travel lightly over his neck, alerting him that she was awake. He pulled away from her to try and get a good look at her face. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, but he knew the crying had somehow helped her. She looked up and smiled at him. The same warm smile before she spoke in a hushed tone.

"I'm sorry. My crying must have surprised you."

"Nah. It's okay. You feeling better, yeah?" He got up from his position and retied his ponytail that was in a mess. She looked surprised at the question. Probably wondering why a member of Akatsuki would actually care about her well-being. He was wondering about the same thing too. Why did he want to crawl back into bed and hold her again?

"Thank you. You're a good friend."

He tensed. Was that why? Was that why he felt so close to her? The reason why he had this incredible itch to destroy anyone who tried to lay a finger on her. Yes! Maybe this was why! Their age gap was not that large. It would not be surprising if they became friends. There was nothing wrong with that. Right? Then something hit him. She was not angry with him or tried to kill him whenever he was vulnerable. Had she forgotten that _he_ was the one that had injured her six months ago? He swallowed. Ever since that accident, he could remember the sleepless nights. The nightmares he had, seeing her covered in blood because of him. He did not want that to happen again. He was going to make sure of it, even if she remembered and hated him for it.

"Uh… I hate to break this to you. But today is _his_ turn to keep an eye on you, yeah."

She groaned and covered her head with the pillows.

"Maybe I could try and tell him I'd take his shift, yeah," he added helpfully. She lifted her head from the pillows and looked at him, her eyes hopeful.

"You would do that?" She hesitated briefly before adding, "Why?"

He shrugged. Oh, how he would love to answer her question. But sadly, he did not know the answer to it. He just wanted to spend more time with her. Strange.

He walked out the door, locking the door behind him, with his cloak in his hands. He needed to search for the Uchiha. He was walking to his room when, Sasuke appeared from his room.

"I'm taking your shift. You can continue to mope in your room, yeah," Deidara said as he looked at the Uchiha squarely in the eye. Sasuke's eye narrowed before he continued to walk past him, heading towards the kunoichi's room. Did he just diss him?

"Uchiha! I'm talking to you, yeah," He said through gritted teeth as he turned around to glare at him.

"Hn. It's _my_ shift."

"She doesn't want to look at you, you cold bastard."

"I don't care."

"What is she to you?"

"…I don't know. But I'm not about to hand her over to _you_."

"And you're better than me? Leaving her behind was something _good_?"

"What would you know? You've never felt the need to protect someone at all costs."

He watched as Sasuke continued to walk towards the kunoichi's room. He was right, he never had the need to protect someone before. But, he did now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi read and re-read the document again and again. How was this possible? Why would the third Hokage hide this fact from him? Was this the reason why he was assigned to become the jounin in charge of Team 7? He realized now that he was given this task to protect the three most important people of Konoha. With all his former students missing, had he failed in his task? He figured it was because of the Kyubi sealed in Naruto and to keep an eye on the last Uchiha. Who knew the girl who was assigned to Team 7 also harboured a dark secret.

"Is this the reason why Akatsuki wants her so badly?" He questioned as he looked at the distressed Hokage through his visible eye.

She sighed, "Yes. I personally asked Shizune to find Sakura's past records. I never expected _this_."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"We wait for news from Neji's team. If I'm not wrong the captors are still on their way to their main base. We'll send another team to help retrieve her. Sakura _cannot_ be taken to Akatsuki at all costs."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke gripped the doorknob firmly and opened the door. She was lying on the bed, flat on her stomach flipping through what seems to be a sketchbook. She looked up and scowled in his direction.

"I suppose you rejected Deidara's offer," she said as she reverted her attention back to the sketchbook.

"Hn."

He walked to the end of the room and sat down, keeping an eye on her. He was still wary of her. Who knew when she was about to strike? She looked… different. She had filled out well. _Very_ well. Her legs were long and toned, one of them was covered by bandages and bands. She still wore her red shirt only the collar was lower revealing her mesh undershirt. Her pink hair was longer, touching her collarbone and her green eyes were still mesmerizing. Her eyes were no longer mirroring her naïve attitude like it did ten years ago, she had matured somewhat and her eyes reflected how much pain she had endured over the past years. Where had the girl who let her emotions control her go? Had she really changed that much?

He knew that being in ANBU meant that one had to control their emotions and have excellent abilities in assassination and also stealth. Imagining her in an ANBU armour and mask was strange. He frowned when he realized he was still a Genin. But that did not matter; he was still stronger than her. He had defeated one of the legendary sannin without using his full power. He could easily defeat the pink haired kunoichi.

Thinking about the kunoichi reminded him of the loud blonde he was also teamed up with: Uzumaki Naruto. He could still remember the heated battle they had. He had not killed him then, on a whim. Was he stronger now? Had he been able to surpass him?

"What happened to Naruto?" He questioned as he looked up from the floor. His eye met her large emerald orbs.

"…I don't know. He left with Jiraiya after you left," She replied. She stopped flipping the pages of the sketchbook and started to stare blankly at the wall. Her expression was, for a split second, void of emotion. It was as if she had forcefully locked away whatever she was feeling, much like how he did in the past. He was about to say something when the door opened. He closed his mouth quickly and glared at the interrupter.

"Sakura-san! We are going to have a sparring session. Would you like to join us?" Tobi inquired, his head poking through the gap made by the door.

"You want me to join you? I might try and escape again."

"Itachi-san said that if you try and escape again Samehada will completely drain your chakra and you would be treated more harshly." She cringed.

Sparring? Sasuke smirked. Sparring was something he could do well.

"Come on," he said to the kunoichi as he left the room, not bothering to see if she was following.

The only thing on his mind was the opportunity to prove to his brother how strong he was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura sat crossed legged as she watched Kisame and Tobi spar. They had agreed that to make sure she would not escape again, she would be bound… with Sasuke. Since chakra infused ropes was of no use, they had to use clay. Her left hand was now bound to Sasuke's right hand. If she were ten years younger, she would have been absolutely thrilled and would have welcomed the idea of being tied with her childhood crush. Now, she just found it annoying. She smirked. How ironic. She would have liked it better if she were bound to Deidara or even Tobi! But it was unfortunate that it was Sasuke's turn that day.

She rested her chin on the palm of her hand and continued to watch the two Akatsuki members spar. Tobi was incredibly fast and whatever that was thrown at him seemed to pass right through him! It was as if he was not there. Like an illusion. On her left, she could feel Sasuke becoming more fidgety and restless. She knew that Sasuke had only agreed to go out was because he had wanted to spar with the Akatsuki members or with his brother. But, he was tied to her. She did not know whether to be grateful or annoyed. With her being tied to him, she had delayed the inevitable battle between the Uchiha Brothers.

She did not know how long she sat there watching the Akatsuki spar. It was very enlightening. Kisame despite his large size was fast and relied heavily on Samehada to execute attacks that would render the enemy weak on contact. Tobi was _very_ fast. Too fast for the naked eye to see. But, he seemed to like to evade the enemy's attacks more than actually attack. It droved his opponents crazy. Deidara had really good taijutsu skills. He preferred to use his explosions, but it might have caused huge ruckus. She never got to see Itachi or Sasuke spar.

When it started to grow dark she was escorted-_dragged_-back to her quarters. Sasuke was in a terrible mood. When he entered the room, he accidentally jerked his hand forward causing Sakura to trip. She frantically grabbed for something to stop her fall. She closed her eyes waiting for her face to hit the ground but instead her face hit something warm. She opened her eyes and found herself staring at the grey material of Sasuke's shirt. They were in a very uncomfortable position. She quickly lifted herself up using her left hand that was bound to Sasuke's right hand. His right arm was holding his upper body up. She was on all fours. Both her hands held her up as she tried to register what had happened. One of her legs was in between his thighs. Before she could even _try_ getting up she heard the door click open. She turned her head and her eyes widened in horror.

Itachi was standing at the door. _Itachi_. Sasuke's _brother_.

She yelped as she hastily removed herself from Sasuke causing her to yank roughly at his arm. He grunted in pain. Itachi had raised his eyebrows in amusement. She could feel heat rush to her cheeks. She had just been caught in a very suggestive position with Uchiha Sasuke.

"Dinner is ready. But I shall inform the others to knock before they enter," Itachi said coolly as he left.

She followed Itachi out of the room dragging Sasuke behind her with brute force. Once she had found Deidara, she shoved their bound wrists in his face before she growled, "Off. Now."

Deidara was surprised but complied with her request. Soon, the bounds were removed and she stormed back to her quarters. She buried herself under the pillows and blankets and willed herself to fall asleep. She was so _embarrassed_. She was a _shinobi_ for heaven's sake. She should have caught herself before falling on Sasuke. She groaned out loud.

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Sasuke strolled to the kunoichi's room. The incident had caught him off guard. He was so close to her and his mind refused to operate. He could remember how his heart had started to beat faster and how her face had turned an amusing red after Itachi had entered the room.

When he entered the room, she was fast asleep. As he walked towards his corner of the room, he accidentally stepped on something hard. He picked up the object. It was the sketchbook she was flipping through. She had not passed the first few pages. He flipped through the sketchbook. It was drawings of landscapes and some were pictures of random people and one was a drawing of Sasori without his Puppet Armour. _He looked that young?_ He continued flipping until he reached the last few drawings. He stopped. His eyes widened as he studied the drawing. The long hair and the Konoha hitae-ate were drawn beautifully. But it was the warm smile that was a dead give-away. He could easily recognize who was drawn. It was a drawing of Sakura when she was younger, smiling. He knew that the sketchbook belonged to the explosives expert, but how could he have met Sakura when she was younger?

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**Soooo…. How was it?**

**Review please and I shall give you a cookie. XD**

**I haven't started the next chapter and I my school term has started so I can't write so often. The next update would take longer. SORRY! –grovels and begs-**


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